The youngest boy accused of being in a car involved in the drive-by shooting murder of Australian baseball player Chris Lane in Oklahoma has been charged as an adult with accessory after the fact.
James Edwards Jr, who was 15 when Lane was randomly gunned down in 2013 while jogging along a residential street in the city of Duncan, was originally charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
The murder charge, however, was dropped a year ago when he became a surprise prosecution witness against his two friends, Chancey Luna and Michael Jones.
Prosecutors then filed an accessory after the fact charge in juvenile court against Edwards Jr and he hoped to be released from custody.
But, according to Oklahoma TV station News 9, prosecutors on Thursday bolstered their case against Edwards Jr.
They charged him as an adult with accessory after the fact, a move that could lead to a lengthy jail sentence if convicted.
At a preliminary hearing in Duncan a year ago Edwards Jr told how he was rolling a joint while sitting in the front seat of a car driven by Jones when it suddenly swerved and Luna, who was in the backseat, fired a .22 calibre revolver.
The story painted the shooting as an accident, with Edwards Jr claiming Luna and Jones were surprised because they thought there were blanks in the gun.
Police alleged Jones, when asked why Lane was shot, said: "We were bored and decided to kill somebody".
Lane, 22, from Melbourne, had a baseball scholarship at Oklahoma's East Central University and was visiting his girlfriend in Duncan when he was shot in the back.
Jones was 17 and Luna was 16 at the time of the August 2013 shooting.
Jones and Luna face first-degree murder trials as adults in April and if convicted face maximum sentences of life in prison.
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