Clinton teen charged as adult in fatal shooting wants case transferred to juvenile court

CLINTON, Iowa (KWQC) - A Clinton teen charged as an adult in the shooting death of a man in July is asking a judge to transfer his case to juvenile court.

Mary Wolfe, the attorney for Kyler Jay Andresen, 17, filed the motion Aug. 1 in Clinton County District Court.

He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 35-year-old Zachary McDivitt. In Iowa, juveniles 16 and older that face a forcible felony, such as murder, are automatically tried as an adult.

In the motion, Wolfe wrote that there are reasonable prospects for rehabilitating Andresen under the juvenile court’s jurisdiction if he is convicted.

“In addition, waiver of the district court’s jurisdiction over Defendant for the alleged commission of the public offense would be in the best interests of Defendant and of the community,” she wrote in the motion.

Wolfe further wrote that Andresen’s prior contact with the criminal justice system is “negligible.”

A hearing on the motion is slated for Sept 2.

According to an arrest affidavit:

Around 10:39 p.m. July 20, the Clinton Police Department was dispatched to the 100 block of North 5th Street in Clinton and found McDivitt suffering from a gunshot wound.

He was transported to Mercy One Emergency Department in Clinton where he died.

During the investigation, officers searched a home and located Andresen.

In an interview with police, Andresen admitted that he shot McDivitt and provided officers with the location of the gun he hid inside the home, according to the affidavit.

Andresen was initially scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. The hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 1, court records show.

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