Warner Robins 13-year-old charged with murder in shooting death, to be tried as adult

Houston County authorities on Wednesday charged a 13-year-old boy with murder in the shooting death of another teen.

Kaden Chase Barefoot had a first appearance hearing Wednesday, where he was told the charges against him: murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a weapon during a crime, possession of a weapon by an underage person and a prescription-drug-possession charge.

He will be tried as an adult.

Ryan Skeen, 16, of Warner Robins was shot in the neck late Monday afternoon on Franklin Square in a neighborhood south of Feagin Mill Road. Skeen had been in intensive care at the Medical Center, Navicent Health, in Macon since the shooting.

Authorities declared him legally dead Wednesday, Houston County Coroner Danny Galpin said, and Skeen was taken off life support.

"I was notified this morning that he had been pronounced brain dead at 9:02," Galpin said Wednesday morning. "They had told me day before yesterday that he was pronounced brain dead, but legally it wasn't until a second physician pronounced him that it's official."

Investigators are trying to determine what prompted the shooting, and they are still interviewing witnesses, according to a statement from the Warner Robins Police Department on Wednesday.

Rumors about what may have happened have been swirling in the community. District Attorney George Hartwig said he could not comment on particulars of the case, saying that's his office's standard procedure.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Detective Shane Mann at 478-302-5380.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Warner Robins 13-year-old charged with murder in shooting death, to be tried as adult ."