One of at least two juveniles police say are involved in the shooting death of Beaumont mom and her newborn baby has been certified to be tried as an adult in the capital murder case.
Johnny De’andre Phifer, 15, who was taken into custody along with another juvenile following the June 2017 murder of Kera Teel and her newborn baby Kyndal, was certified by the court as an adult on Thursday according to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.
Because Phifer is a juvenile he will not be eligible for the death penalty.
Phifer is facing a capital murder charge in the Kera Teel case as well as a burglary of a habitation charge from a July 13, 2017 burglary on Yorktown Lane according to the district attorney's office.
Police said in early November that they had determined that several juveniles were responsible for the murder of Teel and her baby.
Police said at the time that all of the suspects in the case had been identified and were in custody on other charges.
Police have not yet released the name of the other juvenile pending their certification as an adult.
Atayanna Douglas, 17, who had been arrested on charges for three aggravated robberies police said were connected to the Teel case, was released from jail Tuesday night after those charges were dropped.
Police said Douglas had "intimate knowledge" of the crime and told them Jared Bias, 22, was the shooter, but investigators learned the information was false.
A capital murder charge against Bias was dismissed earlier this month though he still faces several charges stemming from other crimes.
Investigators have not yet said why the robbery charges against Douglas were dropped.
Beaumont police responded to a shots fired call in June 2017 and found Teel, who was seven months pregnant, mortally wounded in her car.
She gave birth at the hospital where later both her and her baby, Kyndal, were pronounced dead.
