Prosecutor's Office Seeks to Try Teen Murder Suspect as Adult

A 16-year-old boy charged with killing his foster father in Blackwood will be tried as an adult if authorities have their way.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office has filed a waiver to have the teen tried as an adult, spokesman Jason Laughlin confirmed Monday.

Speculation abounded that the teen could be tried as an adult since his arrest was announced on July 13.

It could be a month or two before a judge considers the motion to have the teen tried as an adult.

The 16-year-old boy is accused of stabbing his foster father to death inside the man's Hemlock Drive home sometime on July 11.

Theotis Butts, 69, was found dead just inside the front door to his home on July 11. It was his brother-in-law who made the grisly discovery after Butts' wife called him to express concern her husband had not arrived to pick her up from work.

The teen was arrested in Bronx, NY, on July 12 after investigators tracked him to a family member's home there.

The juvenile was transported from New York to Camden County Juvenile Detention Center on July 29 following an extradition hearing.

Authorities have indicated they will not identify the teen to media unless a judge waives him to adult court.

The prosecutor's office will also ask a judge to try the 16-year-old boy as an adult in a carjacking case.

Gloucester Township Police Chief W. Harry Earle announced at the time of the 16-year-old's arrest on the murder charge that he had been charged in connection with a May 29 carjacking at Blackwood's Lakeview Apartments but never apprehended.

The teen is accused of pointing a gun at a family who was cleaning its 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix, and stealing the car, Laughlin said. Bridgeton police attempted to pull over the stolen Pontiac in the Cumberland County town, but its driver fled from the car and was able to avoid apprehension.