Girl will face robbery charges as an adult

A Cape Girardeau teenager was looking at the possibility of a lifetime in prison Thursday, after a juvenile courts judge ordered the 17-year-old suspect be prosecuted as an adult on first-degree robbery and weapons charges.

Nashae T. Antonia, who turned 17 on Thursday, is one of five individuals -- four women and two men -- suspected in the Jan. 2 robbery of a woman who was walking along Kingshighway the afternoon of Jan. 2. Three of them have been charged, including Antonia, who remained in the custody of juvenile authorities on a $50,000 bond.

Jessica D. Davis, 19, and Shalayla Q. Lowe, 18, were the first to each be handed a robbery charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Antonia is to be arraigned on Feb. 4 before Judge Gary Kamp. Court records show she has yet to hire a lawyer.

Davis is being represented by public defender Mary Patricia Tucka, with a preliminary hearing set for 9 a.m. Wednesday. A deputy at the Cape Girardeau County Jail said that Lowe was not in custody Thursday night. A $100,000 cash-only bond has been assigned.

The victim had been walking along Kingshighway on that Saturday afternoon, she told police, when a red car -- and the five inside -- pulled beside her. She knew the man, but not the four women, she said. After rejecting the man's offer of a ride, she continued walking, she said. The car followed and this time the man insisted she get into the car.

When she tried to get in the back, a suspect police identified as Taylor revealed a 6-inch knife. Another of the women got out of the car and told the victim that today was not going to be her day, she said.

That's when all four women attacked her, the victim claimed. They pulled her hair, punched her face and the back of her head, she said. Her earrings were pulled out and she was beaten to the ground. The man reached into her bra and pulled out about $195, she told police. As they heard sirens, they warned the victim that she would pay if she talked to police.

Police chased the suspects in a car that had the license plate numbers from the victim's partial match. A number were arrested at a house along William Street after a mini-standoff that lasted about an hour.

Police have yet to identify a fourth woman or a man identified as the driver.

Normally, juveniles are buffered from the adult system. But under Missouri law, some more violent offenses can be transferred to the adult courts. On Wednesday, after a criminal petition was filed by assistant prosecutor Julie Hunter, Judge Scott Lipke ordered Antonia moved to the adult side.

The most recent such a transfer was the case of Mercedes Ayers, who was charged as an adult after being accused of attacking a lesbian.

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