Prosecutors: Try Teens Charged in Autumn Pasquale's Murder as Adults

Prosecutors want to try two teenage brothers as adults in the slaying of a 12-year-old Clayton girl. 

The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday it will file a motion in the Family Division of state Superior Court in Woodbury asking a judge to waive the brothers, ages 15 and 17, to adult court, where they would face more serious punishment if convicted.

The are charged with murder in the slaying of Autumn Pasquale, a Clayton, Gloucester County girl whose body was found Oct. 22 in a recycling bin.  

Prosecutors alleged the brothers lured the girl into their home with the promise of parts for her BMX Odyssey bicycle, which she had been riding when she left her West High Street home around 12:30 on Oct. 20, and then strangled her. Prosecutors have not released a motive for the slaying, nor have they identified the brothers because of their ages. 

However, they have been widely identified elsewhere as Justin Robinson, 15, and Dante Robinson, 17, both Clayton residents. 

They are being held separately at the Camden County Juvenile Detention Center at Lakeland in Gloucester Township. 

Once the prosecutor's application is filed, it will be heard by Superior Court Judge Colleen A. Maier. 

“It is the state’s position, based upon the gravity of the juveniles actions in causing the death of Autumn Pasquale, that these cases should be heard in adult court,” said Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton.

In addition to murder, the brothers also are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, illegally disposing of a body, tampering with evidence, and theft. Justin Robinson also is charged with luring. 

If they're convicted as adults of Pasquale's murder, the brother would a face a minimum sentence of 30 years in state prison without parole.