By WMBD-TV

BLOOMINGTON – A 15-year-old boy could face up to 30 years behind bars if convicted of charges connected to a shooting in early February.

Colin Harris appeared in McLean County Circuit Court this week after being charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and other counts in connection with the Feb. 8 incident on West Market Street and Howard Street in Bloomington’s West Side.

The attempted murder count alleges Harris personally discharged the firearm and that could trigger possible additional penalties if Harris is convicted.

A detention hearing was held on Thursday and was ordered held in custody at the county’s juvenile detention center pending the outcome of his case.

Harris will next appear in court for his arraignment on March 29.

On Feb. 8, a little before 4 p.m., a 17-year-old Bloomington boy was shot in the leg near the 1000 block of West Market Street. The injuries were non-life-threatening, police have said. About two weeks later, Harris was arrested.

His age meant that he was likely initially charged in the McLean County Circuit Court‘s juvenile division but that at some point, the case was moved into the adult division.

Before deciding to move a case to adult court, a judge must consider several factors before making a decision. Among those factors are the boy’s childhood, what services he might have already received from juvenile probation officers as a way to rehabilitate himself, and the actual nature of the crime itself.

Judges in juvenile court must weigh all those factors and decide if it’s appropriate to move a case out of juvenile court, where the emphasis is on helping a child, to adult court, where there is more of a focus on punishment.

Staying in the juvenile system would have had the case sealed to the general public, and any imprisonment would have stopped at the boy’s 21st birthday.

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