Teen will be tried as juvenile in stabbing death of Palmetto Ridge classmate

Jorge Saavedra

COLLIER COUNTY — The teenager arrested in last month’s fatal stabbing of a fellow Palmetto Ridge High School student was formally charged with manslaughter and will be prosecuted as a juvenile, the State Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Jorge Saavedra, 15, was arrested on Jan. 24 in the slaying of Dylan Nuno, 16, during a fight near a high school bus stop, according to Collier County detectives.

The decision to charge Saavedra as a juvenile effectively caps the penalty the teenager could receive if found delinquent.

For adults, manslaughter, a second-degree felony, carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence under state law. If enhanced due to a weapon, the charge could be upped to a first-degree felony, punishable by a maximum 30 years in prison.

Witnesses said Saavedra had a knife, although a weapon was not immediately recovered.

If found delinquent as a juvenile, Saavedra would age out of court control upon his 22nd birthday, at the latest.

His arraignment is scheduled for March 14. Saavedra will appear for detention and indigence reviews on March 1. The teenager did not appear Wednesday for a scheduled detention review, as attorneys stipulated to holding him until the March 1 hearing.

His attorney, Donald Day, declined comment on Wednesday.

Witnesses told detectives a fight was brewing between Saavedra and Nuno as the pair exited the bus onto 47th Avenue NE, moments before the stabbing. In media interviews, some students portrayed the fight as the result of Nuno bullying Saavedra; others said the two boys planned the scrap.

Reached Wednesday, Nuno’s aunt, Adriana Rodriguez, declined to comment on the filed charge.

Juvenile court differs from criminal court in procedure and severity of penalty. Instead of a jury being asked to determine the guilt of a defendant, a circuit court judge in a juvenile hearing determines if a child has committed a delinquent act.

A delinquent child can then be placed on probation with the Department of Juvenile Justice for an unspecified amount of time. The programs vary depending on the severity of the crime, although all are designed to both punish and rehabilitate delinquents. Typically, the more severe the act, the more restrictive the placement.

A child deemed a Severe Juvenile Offender, a designation reserved for violent acts including manslaughter, are placed in the most intensive programs and receive the Department of Juvenile Justice’s highest level of supervision.

Juveniles placed in such programs receive mental health or substance abuse treatment, as needed, in addition to vocational counseling and education services.

Juveniles can be held under court order until they reach age 21, and high-risk juveniles can be held on conditional release until their 22nd birthday.

A delinquency adjudication can be expunged from a permanent record.