14-Year-Old Arrested In Murder Of Massachusetts Teacher To Be Tried As Adult

The 14-year-old arrested in the murder of a 24-year-old teacher in Danvers, Mass., has been charged Wednesday in court as an adult.

Philip Chism, 14, did not return home from school Tuesday. He was found by Topsfield police early Wednesday morning wandering Route 1, authorities said. He appeared in Salem District Court Wednesday afternoon. His defense attorney argued for the proceedings to be closed and her client to be allowed to stay hidden because of his age. The judge denied the request.

Chism is charged in the murder of Colleen Ritzer of Andover, a Danvers High School teacher. She was found dead in the woods behind the school. She had not returned home from work Tuesday and was not answering her cellphone, Jonathan Blodgett, the Essex district attorney, said. Investigators found blood in a second floor school bathroom and soon located the victim.

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