Two teen boys charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault in the death of a hiker at Hocking Hills State Park in September will be tried as adults, a Hocking County judge ruled today.
Victoria Schafer, 44, died on Labor Day after a 74-pound log fell from a nearby cliff while she was climbing stairs near Old Man's Cave, a popular attraction at the park.
Hocking County Juvenile Judge Jonah M. Saving ruled that there was probable cause to try the teens as adults in Schafer's death after testimony in a hearing today, according to Chillicothe media. The teens are accused of moving the large log from a pile and dropping it off the edge of the cliff.
A friend of the two boys who was present at the time the incident allegedly occurred said she thought the boys threw the log off the cliff to be funny. She also testified that one of the two looked over the cliff and said they saw no one below.
Law enforcement personnel testified that one of the boys admitted he knew there were people below the cliff, though an attorney for the teens contests that.
Both teens are currently being held in a juvenile detention center on $100,000 bond.
