The murder of 14-year-old Marlee Johnston has left the community of Fayette – the entire state, for that matter – wondering what happened.

Another 14-year-old, Patrick Armstrong, also of Fayette, has been arrested and charged in the girl’s death.

While police are being needlessly tight-lipped about their investigation and the circumstances of Marlee’s death, the details won’t change the alarming nature of what police say happened.

When one child is accused of killing another in a deliberate way, it scrambles the sensibilities of every parent.

The desire to punish a killer runs directly into the notion that children are not fully responsible for their actions and need to be protected – from themselves and others. Research suggests that the brains of teenagers are still developing, and that their capacity to control impulses and make good judgments improve as they mature. The National Institute of Mental Health and the University of California have found that the brain is still developing in 16- and 17-year-olds and growth can continue for years.

Even before the new scientific evidence, the idea that teenagers, even those as old as 17, are not entirely culpable for their actions is what has led to the creation of a separate juvenile justice system and limits on such activities as voting, drinking, smoking and getting married. Juvenile courts were developed during the Progressive Era to provide an alternative – focused on rehabilitation – to throwing kids into adult prisons.

The U.S. Supreme Court in March changed course from the get-tough-on-crime period of the 1980s and 1990s, declaring it unconstitutional to execute a person younger than 18 who committed a capital offense.

“The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood,” wrote Justice Anthony Kenney for the majority. “It is … the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest.”

At the same stroke, it’s impossible not to consider the heinousness of a crime regardless of the age of the offender. The dead remain dead whether the attacker was 14 or 40, and some crimes, by their nature, demand stiff punishment. Few crimes are worse than murdering a child.

Maine doesn’t have a death penalty. But the questions about juvenile offenders and how they are treated by the criminal justice system remain. State law allows for juveniles to be charged as adults on a case-by-case basis. The difference in treatment is enormous. While the law applies equally to kids and adults, punishment does not. A juvenile convicted of murder can be held until his 21st birthday. A person charged as an adult could receive a sentence of 25 years to life.

What chance does a 14-year-old boy have in a prison filled with adult criminals, where a juvenile is more likely to be beaten, sexually assaulted and commit suicide? What chance does he deserve?

There are no easy answers.

Police investigating Marlee’s death say they do not expect other arrests. Ultimately, Patrick Armstrong’s fate will be determined in a court of law.

One child’s life has been lost and another’s will never be the same whether he’s convicted or acquitted.

The list of people hurt by Marlee’s death will continue to grow. No matter the punishment imposed upon whoever did this, there will be no happy ending – only tragedy heaped upon tragedy.