Two teens sentenced as adults in Houston County bus stop robbery

Prosecutors say the robbery happened in broad daylight as a student got off a school bus.

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Two 15-year-olds have been convicted and sentenced as adults in Houston County after pleading guilty to robbing a younger student at gunpoint near a school bus stop.

According to the Houston County District Attorney’s Office, 15-year-old Kayden Teshawn Rivera of Warner Robins and 15-year-old Yerimiyah O’Hara of Centerville pleaded guilty December 8 to robbery by intimidation in Houston County Superior Court.

They were both sentenced to 15 years with the first 10 to be served in prison.

Prosecutors say the robbery happened May 7 when the two teens approached a 13-year-old victim in broad daylight as he was getting off his school bus. Investigators say both suspects were wearing masks and that one displayed a handgun while stealing the victim’s cellphone.

The victim recognized one of the suspects by voice and reported the robbery to his grandmother. According to the district attorney’s office, the grandmother then drove around the neighborhood and confronted the suspects, at which point O’Hara returned the stolen phone. Multiple juveniles and their families witnessed the incident and reported it to police.

Although Rivera and O’Hara were juveniles at the time of the crime, prosecutors say Georgia law required them to be charged and tried as adults because of the nature of the offense. Due to their ages, the district attorney’s office did not release booking photos.

“This case is deeply troubling—not only because a child was robbed in broad daylight while getting off a school bus, but because the individuals responsible were themselves so young,” District Attorney Eric Edwards said in a statement. “No child in Houston County should have to fear being confronted with a firearm on the walk home from school.”