The Associated Press

MEDINA, Ohio - A 16-year-old boy has been charged with killing a girl whose parents allowed him to sleep on her floor because he said he was afraid to go home.

Dustin Lynch was charged with aggravated murder Friday in Medina County Juvenile Court, but prosecutors want him tried as an adult, so that he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

"I believe the seriousness of the crime calls out for it," Prosecutor Dean Holman said.

Lynch is accused of bludgeoning and stabbing JoLynn Mishne, 17, a classmate whose father found her dead in bed.

The killing occurred Nov. 2 at the Mishne home in northeast Ohio's Montville Township, where JoLynn lived with her father, Merle. He gave Dustin permission to sleep on the floor of JoLynn's room.

Since Nov. 9, Dustin has been a resident of Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility, a maximum-security detention center in Massillon.

Because Lynch was 15 when JoLynn was killed, Ohio law does not require him to be tried as an adult. Prosecutors must prove he cannot be rehabilitated in the juvenile justice system.