A 16-year-old girl found not guilty of murder in an adult court case last Friday is still locked up.
That’s because even though the teen girl was certified to stand trial as an adult, she still has unresolved and unrelated charges to deal with in juvenile court.
The teen was 14-years-old back in December 2024 when she was accused of stabbing 53-year-old Ray Hardy, Junior in the neck, killing him.
It happened during a domestic disturbance on Stutts Drive in east San Antonio.
The teen claimed her mother was under attack by the man during a heated argument and she was trying to stop the assault.
A jury agreed with her argument, and she was acquitted.
But while she was awaiting trial, there were other issues that developed during her stay in juvenile detention.
During one appearance before Judge William Cruz Shaw, the teen was admonished to do a better job of following the rules while she remained in custody.
Addressing the judge directly in October 2025, the teen said, “Judge, You told me last time I saw you that I needed to improve on my behavior if I wanted to get where I wanted to go.”
When the teen told Shaw her behavior had improved, the judge immediately asked her what she had done the previous weekend, when there was a disturbance among detainees.
Her reply “I was provoked, but that doesn’t change what I did.”
The judge told the teen she could not continue acting up, saying “You can’t be doing that. If you did that on the adult side, you’d be laying in a cell somewhere. You have not held up your end of the bargain!”
When the teen replied that she had done her best, Shaw retorted with “Your best is not good enough right now.”
During another incident in the lockup, the teen was accused of assaulting a detention guard.
Wednesday morning, she will have a hearing on that allegation.
Juveniles are not eligible for bond, so the teen will remain locked up until these outstanding issues are fully resolved.