UPDATED: Should Michael Ferreira Be Tried for Murder As An Adult?

UPDATED Thursday, 8:30 p.m.

Michael Ferreira was just 15 years old when prosecutors allege he and two other teens

In the next few days, a Lowell Juvenile Court Judge will decide whether or not Ferreira should be tried as an adult for that crime.

McCabe was also just 15 years old when he was allegedly kidnapped by Ferreira, and Walter Shelley while walking home from a dance at the Knights of Columbus. Prosecutors allege McCabe was beaten in the backseat of a car by Brown and Ferreira, while Shelley drove to a vacant lot in Lowell, where McCabe was bound and gagged in such a way that he asphyxiated.

In a statement to police in March, Brown pointed the finger squarely at and threatened to kill Shelley and Brown if they talked.

Brown has been charged with manslaughter, Shelley with first degree murder and Ferreira with perjury for lying to a Grand Jury in 2008. Ferreira is also charged with first degree murder, but because of his age at the time of the crime, he has only been charged as a juvenile.

A hearing on a motion by the District Attorney's office to have Ferreira tried as an adult began yesterday and continued today in Lowell Juvenile Court.

Juvenile procedings are closed to the public. However, a source close to the investigation, speaking on a condition of anonymity, said two witnesses testified over the course of two-and-a-half hours Thursday. One was Brown, the prosecution's star witness and the other was a woman, who testified Ferreira told her, in October 1969, that he was responsible for McCabe's death.

Testimony in the hearing continued today and will continue on Tuesday, June 21. It is not known when a decision on Ferreira's status will be handed down.

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