An online petition has been launched urging prosecutors to charge a teen murder suspect as an adult.
The petition sponsored by Facebook investigative journalist Phillip Brunelle comes amid reports the files on Deven Young have now been sealed from public access.
Young, 17, was scheduled for a hearing Aug. 22 in Knox County Court in Rockland to determine whether a judge would bind him over as an adult.
A court spokesperson would only say the case is now no longer public, suggesting he may be treated as a juvenile defendant.
If Young’s case is prosecuted in juvenile court he would only be required to be held in custody until he becomes an adult if convicted of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart’s killing.
Young turns 21 in three years, meaning theoretically he could be released by September 2028.
Stewart’s bludgeoned body was found on an island near Mic Mac Cove Campground in Union July 3 after she disappeared while paddleboarding.
Young was arrested in her killing on July 16.
Brunelle started a petition earlier this week urging the court system to treat Young as an adult.
By August 21 the petition had nearly 1,500 signatures.
