No youthful offender status for man charged with girlfriend's death
SCOTTSBORO, AL (WAFF) - A Scottsboro man charged in the death of a girlfriend was denied youthful offender status Tuesday.
20-year-old Jonathan Maurice Nicholson is charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of 17-year-old Tessa Faye Groves of Woodville.
Citing several previous charges ranging from harassment to assault to theft and drug charges, the judge told Nicholson there was no way he could grant youthful offender status. Nicholson also faces an unrelated felony robbery charge.
Groves was shot at a home in Scottsboro in September 2012. An investigation later revealed the bullet that struck Groves first struck Nicholson's face.
Groves' family said they are pleased by the judge's decision. However, they are not pleased about the misdemeanor charge Nicholson faces.
"That charge is a joke. It's a misdemeanor. He gets charged a misdemeanor for killing her. He's going to get one year. If we're lucky, he's going to get one year in jail for taking her life," said Sara Groves, Tessa's sister.
The judge set a Feb. 24 trial date.
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