BOY, 11, SOBS AT CRACK HEARING

In shackles, he's the youngest ever to be held on the charge in Polk County.

By LEE ROOD REGISTER STAFF WRITER

An 11-year-old Des Moines boy arrested this week in a Des Moines drug raid
pleaded tearfully Thursday after a judge sent him to a youth shelter until
his fate can be decided in Polk County Juvenile Court.

I want-to go home," cried Coty Turner, his small hands shackled and his
4-foot frame hidden under baggy blue prison coveralls. His mother and
lawyer tried in vain to console him before he was ushered away from the
courtroom.

The youngster, who had been expressionless during most of the juvenile
court hearing, began to cry when Judge Karen Romano said he could not go
home. The charge against him, the judge said, was too serious.

Turner, a Callanan Middle School student, is the youngest person in Polk
County to be charged with possession with intent to distribute crack
cocaine, juvenile authorities say. Police said he tried to toss four rocks
of crack into the bushes when he was arrested Tuesday.

"Six years ago, I would have been gasping for breath," said Vernon Johnson,
the head of a local juvenile treatment program. "But today the tide has
shifted."

The state of Iowa and Polk County have experienced a surge in juvenile
crime, and experts say Turner's case is one of several in recent months in
which young children have been charged with serious crimes.

In June, a judge sent 14-year-old Taurean Daniels of Des Moines to the
state training school at Eldora after police caught him with $1,700 worth
of crack. In January, an 11-year-old was referred to juvenile court after
robbing a Des Moines restaurant at gunpoint. And last month, police
questioned a 5-year-old after he and a 10-year-old were caught vandalizing
townhouses in Altoona.

Thursday, Coty appeared in a hearing with his 15-year-old brother, Cory,
who was arrested after the raid at 1717 Carpenter Ave. Police said that
near the home they found hundreds of plastic bags of the type used to sell
individual rocks of crack.

Cory was arrested on an outstanding warrant for a marijuana possession
charge, said Ed Nahas, a spokesman for the Polk County Juvenile Court. A
15-year-old friend who lived at the Carpenter address, Chasity Anderson is
schedule to appear in juvenile court in two weeks on charges stemming from
the raid, he said.

Judge Romano said she declined to release both the boys to their mother,
Tracy Jewitt, saying they were at risk to flee.

Jewitt, who recently moved back to Des Moines from Minneapolis, cried after
Thursday's hearing. She and her attorney, Nancy Pietz, declined to comment.

Although the county does not keep statistics on juvenile offenders by age,
Nahas said, Turner appears to be among a growing number of younger children
charged in recent years with a variety of crimes.

"You can just tell," said Nahas, who has worked for juvenile court for 21
years. "You just see them younger and younger - 5, 6, 7 and 8 years old.
We never used to see kids that young here."

State crime analyst Lettie Prell said that no statistically significant
trends among young offenders have emerged statewide. She said the number
of children below the age of 12 who have been involved in serious crimes
has, remained low.

Nahas said authorities are more apt to formally charge juveniles now
because they want to get them into rehabilitation programs sooner. He said
it's likely Coty Turner will receive probation or be referred to the Eldora
home for a 30-day evaluation.

In either case, the boy will probably be monitored closely in school and at
home and be required to participate in a program that would educate him
about the perils of drug use.

"I would think an 11-year-old would have a hard time understand the dangers
of crack cocaine," he said. "We need to get his attention and then we need
to work with him."

Reporter Lee Rood can be reached at (515) 284-8065 or roodl@news.dmreg.com

The Des Moines Register Friday, September 18, 1998 Page 1A
letters@news.dmreg.com

Checked-by: Pat Dolan