GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A teenager charged in connection with a fatal drug overdose will appeal a decision denying her request to have the case moved to juvenile court.
Maylia Sotelo, now 16, is charged in adult court with first-degree reckless homicide. In Wisconsin, those ages 10 and older charged with certain homicide counts are prosecuted in adult court. The defense can ask for the case to be moved to juvenile court, but such requests are not automatically granted.
At a hearing last week, Judge Beau Liegeois denied Sotelo’s request, keeping the case in adult court. No trial date has been set; a status conference is set for Sept. 18.
In a motion to the court this week, Sotelo’s attorney asked for the case to be put on hold, as she plans to file what’s known as an “interlocutory appeal.” However, the appeals court must grant permission for such an appeal while the case is still pending.
“The defendant will suffer irreparable injury if the requested stay is denied,” wrote attorney Trisha Fritz. “Since this is an interlocutory appeal, the length of delay created by any stay will not be onerous. Neither the State of Wisconsin nor the public interest will be harmed if the requested stay is granted.”
Prosecutors have not responded to the motion. Nothing has been scheduled before the appeals court.
Sotelo, then 15, allegedly provided the drugs another teen overdosed on.
In a criminal complaint, prosecutors allege that on the morning of Dec. 3, the grandmother of the victim, identified only as J.D.M., called police when her grandson would not open the door.
First responders arrived at the home in De Pere. They knocked on the door of J.D.M.’s bedroom but did not hear a response. A paramedic forced the door open and noticed the 18-year-old was beyond help. Officers say the death seemed suspicious due to drug paraphernalia nearby. An autopsy confirmed that he had died from a fentanyl overdose.
The victim’s grandparents told first responders he had a history with drugs and had been to a rehab center in Minnesota earlier in the year, after he moved to Arizona for a short time before returning back to Wisconsin and living with his grandparents.
The victim’s mother met with a De Pere police officer to provide more evidence. She showed police conversations found on her son’s phone that they were able to trace to Sotelo, who sold him what she called a “bad batch” of Percocet.
Law enforcement then set up a “controlled buy” with Sotelo, then 15 years old, and arrested her.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sotelo was found to be in possession of 775 fentanyl pills — 60% of which were lethal doses.
Sotelo told law enforcement she started smoking marijuana and then became addicted to Percocet. She said she did not want to sell but had to pay off a $500 debt to a person who gave her Percocet pills to sell.
