Iowa City teen charged in armed robbery will remain in adult court

IOWA CITY — One of two Iowa City teens charged in an armed robbery last year will remain in adult court, according to a judge’s ruling.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Paul Miller, in his ruling last week, noted that Tavarion Herron, who is 17, will turn 18 June 29, which would allow him under three months of rehabilitation in juvenile court jurisdiction. That places the “public at risk and is not in the best interests of the child or the community,” the judge said.

During last week’s hearing on a motion for a reverse waiver to juvenile court, a juvenile court officer said Herron, who had no previous criminal history, had been cooperative and continues to work on his requirements for graduation while in detention. The officer recommended transferring the case.

Herron had a traumatic and unstable home, according to the ruling. He was physically and emotionally abused as a child — waterboarded at age 5 by his mother’s boyfriend. He never knew his father, and his mother “showed little interest in his well-being.”

The juvenile court officer said Herron is motivated to get his school work done and has not been a discipline problem in detention, Miller stated in the ruling.

A psychologist testified that Herron was at low risk to offend based on not having a criminal history, his behavior in school and his work on school courses while in detention. Overall, Herron has generally made good decisions, except for this “one impulsive and isolated act,” the psychologist said.

The judge said the nature of the crime — an armed robbery on an individual — weighed “heavily” in the court’s decision.

“There is simply not enough time to provide the needed services,” Miller said. In juvenile court, the teen could be released from all restrictions and supervision at age 18, he added.

Herron and another teen, Laron Gadlen Jr., 16, are each charged with first-degree robbery. According to criminal complaints, police responded about 11 p.m. Dec. 21 to a robbery at GreenState Credit Union on the city’s west side.

A male was using the drive-thru ATM when Herron and Gadlen, both armed, approached him. One of the teens pointed a gun at his head, according to the complaints, but he got away unharmed.

People familiar with Gadlen identified him through surveillance video of the robbery, the complaint stated.

Social media accounts showed Gadlen wearing the same clothes and having a firearm that matched the description — a black pistol with an extended magazine — around the same time of the robbery, according to a complaint.

Video footage also showed Herron armed with a pistol, wearing a gray “NASA” sweatshirt. Herron was wearing the same sweatshirt when police obtained search warrant for his residence, the complaint stated. Herron also was identified by “another involved” person, according to the complaint.

During a police interview, Herron admitted to being involved in the robbery but would not admit to what he did with his firearm.

Gadlen has a reverse waiver hearing next Thursday in Johnson County District Court.

If convicted of first-degree robbery, each faces 25 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 85 percent must be served before being eligible for parole.

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