GUILTY PA - Rashaad Gallmon-Queen, 25, shot to death, Harrisburg, 27 Nov 2015

A Harrisburg teen who was 15 when he was arrested for the "senseless" killing of an innocent bystander must be tried as an adult, not as a juvenile, a Dauphin County judge has ruled.

President Judge Richard A. Lewis made that call a week after hearing arguments from defense attorney Gary Kelley, who urged that the case of Jasuan Johnson be "decertified" and sent to juvenile court.

Instead, Lewis agreed with Chief Deputy District Attorney Johnny Baer that Johnson's case is too serious to be handled in the juvenile system.

Johnson, now 16, is accused of killing 25-year-old Rashaa Gallmon-Queen as the victim sat in a car at North Fifth and Radnor streets last November. Police said witnesses told them Johnson was a passenger in a car that pulled up beside the vehicle in which Gallmon-Queen was riding. Johnson rolled down the rear passenger window of the car he was in and started shooting, investigators said.

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A 16-year-old Harrisburg boy has another week to decide whether to accept a prosecution offer that would take a life prison sentence off the table in his murder case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Johnny Baer reluctantly granted that extension to Jasuan Johnson during a Thursday afternoon hearing before Dauphin County President Judge Richard A. Lewis.

If he accepts the prosecution offer to plead guilty, Johnson could face a sentence as low as 35 to 70 years in prison. Baer extended the offer in October and had set Thursday as the deadline for Johnson's answer.

If the DA's offer is rejected, Johnson will go on trial in February, the judge said.

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After getting an extra week to think about it, a Harrisburg teen on Thursday afternoon decided to accept a plea deal to avoid a possible life prison sentence for a fatal driveby shooting.

"I would like to take the plea," Jasuan Johnson, 16, told Dauphin County President Judge Richard A. Lewis as his lawyer, Gary Kelley, stood by his side.

Lewis scheduled a hearing for Friday to formally accept the deal and Johnson's plea to first-degree murder and to impose Johnson's punishment.

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Monica Gallmon started crying the second a Dauphin County prosecutor mentioned the murder of her 25-year-old son.

The Harrisburg woman was still weeping moments later after 16-year-old Jasuan Johnson pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to first-degree murder for killing Rashaad Gallmon-Queen during a drive-by shooting in the city last year.

In return for his plea, President Judge Richard A. Lewis sentenced Johnson to 35 to 70 years in state prison.

Even through the pain of her loss, Monica Gallmon showed mercy. When Lewis gave her a chance to speak, she told Johnson she is praying for him.

"I'm asking God...to please forgive him," she said, turning to Johnson. "As hurt as I am, your mother is as well."

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