Teen gang murder suspect will be tried as adult

Looks like Ashley Paige Benton, the sweet-natured, Bible-reading teenage girl her lawyer says was forced to stab a 15-year-old boy repeatedly during a gang attack in early June, is finding out murder is kind of a hard thing to deal with: a state district judge ruled Monday that Benton, 16, will stand trial as an adult.

In issuing his ruling on the 16-year-old's case, state District Judge Pat Shelton cited the "heinous" nature of the stabbing, in addition to what he called Benton's history of insubordination at school and carrying weapons at school.

The judge noted that Benton is about 16 1/2 years old. The state of Texas regards 17 as the age at which a person is an adult.

Benton is accused of stabbing Gabriel Granillo during a June 6 ambush at Chew Park on Dunlavy Street. According to reports, Granillo, his brother and a friend were at the park when Benton and a couple dozen other people arrived and started beating them up with baseball bats, bricks, golf clubs and tire irons. Witnesses initially reported a blond girl stabbed Granillo and then ran to a waiting car; the next day, Benton was arrested at her home near the park. (And yes, her attorney, Rick DeToto, really did say Benton is a remorseful kid who's reading the Bible in jail. Sure, it may be true, but pardon us if we have a little trouble reconciling that image with the one of the knife-wielding teen gun moll.)

Because she has been certified to stand trial as an adult, Benton will face the same range of punishment an adult would face for her crime. Juveniles, however, are not subject to the death penalty if they commit a crime before turning 17.