Teen Charged in Teacher Slaying, Rape at Juvenile Detention Center

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (CBS/WJZ/AP) More than five months after the bludgeoning death of a Maryland juvenile detention center teacher, the 14-year-old boy accused of the slaying has been charged.

The unidentified youth was in court Wednesday for a hearing that's similar to an arraignment in adult court. He's accused of rape and murder in the February slaying of 65-year-old teacher Hannah Wheeling, and prosecutors are seeking to have him tried as an adult.

The youth was only 13 years and seven months old when Wheeling's partially clothed body was found outside a campus building at the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County, located southeast of Washington, D.C.

A source told CBS affiliate WJZ that the teacher was beaten with a concrete block and strangled with the lanyard that held her Department of Juvenile Services ID tag.

She was also sexually assaulted.

When Wheeling was killed, the youth was in the custody of the state's juvenile services division because of his involvement in a series of breaking and entering incidents, his defense attorney said Wednesday.

The teen has remained in custody since the slaying and has denied any involvement in Wheeling's death, according to his attorney.

But the source says that the boy's DNA matches the blood and semen found on the victim.

Prosecutors announced in court they'll formally ask for the boy to be tried as an adult at a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 27.

The 14-year-old is currently being held at the Western Maryland Children's Center in Hagerstown, Md.