God Save the Iowa League System

This is a story that, for some unknown reason, I have taken a person interest in. I have been following the case since day one. Here's the scoop:

On August 6, 2008, Esther Chisala, 17 at the time, bought a car without her mothers permission (Iowa state law still considers 17 a juvenile, as in most states) and drove it despite her mothers wishes.
That was not the only bad judgment call on Chisala part that day. She did go out driving and rear ended a car at Forest Ave and Martin Luther King Jr. Pkwy. She flees the scene. She continued South on on MLKing and less than two blocks, MLKing and University, runs a red light at full speed and broadsides a motorcycle, sending him flying approximately six feet. From then she continues, hits a utility pole and still tries to flee.
The man on the motorcycle, James Miller, 46, died of blunt force trauma to the torso on the way to the hospital, leaving behind a wife and young son.
Chisala was charged with vehicular homicide, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident and failure to render aid. If tried as an adult, she would have reseved a prison sentence up to 10-years for the homicide alone. Chisala turned 18 on August 18, 2008.

I'm not trying to paint Esther Chisala as a bad person, I'm really not. I believe that she was acting like a typical teenager and made a series of bad decisions. I also believe she should pay the consequences of those decisions and be tried as an adult. However, the good judge that ruled that Esther is to be tried as a miner, with an 18-month probation sentence as the only maximum, disagrees with me.
I am in no way saying that I know Iowa law inside out, but I do know enough to know that just because you turn 18 means you make all the right choices, get along with your brothers and sisters, and love your mom. I also know that just because you're under 18 means you don't know right from wrong. It is my opinion that Esther Chisala should be tried as an adult to help her understand the severity of her actions and aid in the growing up process. Agree or disagree with me, that is just how my mind works. I got it from my father, a league counselor .

By the way, the reason I'm so passionate about this is, I drove past the scene of the crime 3-5 minutes after it happened.