NEWPORT NEWS — A juvenile court judge on Thursday found sufficient evidence to advance the charges against a teen accused of shooting and killing a 17-year-old outside Menchville High School three months ago.

Demari Antonio Batten, 18, is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Justice Michael Dunham, who was shot in the school’s parking lot as fans cleared out of a packed Dec. 14 basketball game between Menchville and Woodside high schools.

Batten told detectives he fired a single round from inside a parked car after being attacked in the school’s parking lot. He said one teenage male was assaulting him on the passenger side of the car, and that as Dunham opened the driver’s door, Batten grabbed his gun from the floorboard and fired.

Dunham — a student and football standout at Woodside — was struck once in the chest, and died about eight minutes later.

“He said he was trying to get them away from him,” Newport News Police Detective Thomas Allen testified at a probable cause hearing Thursday.

Batten’s attorney, James Broccoletti, contended his client was “jumped” and acted in self-defense. He urged Newport News Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Kimberly Kurkjian to reduce the second-degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter.

But Kurkjian declined to do so, instead certifying the murder and related gun charges and sending them to a grand jury in Newport News Circuit Court.

Allen testified during Thursday’s hearing that he interviewed Batten extensively at police headquarters on the night of the killing, describing him as “very respectful, polite and well-spoken.”

Batten, a student at Warwick High School, said he had never previously met Dunham.

The detective said the teen told him he went to the game with a friend, leaving his firearm — a Glock 9 mm with an extended magazine and 22 rounds — behind on the passenger floorboard.

Court documents previously filed in the case said Batten and a group of other teens began “feuding” during the game. Though there was no physical contact between them, police said Batten and another teen were flashing “gestures” to each other from opposite sides of the court.

Allen testified that Batten told him that with about a minute left in the game, he asked his friend for the keys to the car and went back to the vehicle. He told the detective he was trying to avoid other students who “didn’t like him.”

Batten said he started up the car to charge his cell phone, then stood outside between the open passenger door and the sedan’s frame. He said that’s when a teen who had been at the game saw him, ran over to the car and “began to assault him,” the detective testified.

Batten said he got into the car and tried to close the door, but the teen blocked him from doing so. Batten told Allen he was worried that “they would see the gun,” and “it would be taken from him.”

Batten told Allen he was “turning away” from the assault on the passenger side when “the front driver’s door also opened.” Batten said he pointed the handgun in that direction and fired one round, striking Dunham in the upper chest.

During the interview, Batten told Allen that four teens were attempting to get into his car at the time, though the detective said he wasn’t able to confirm that. While other teens saw the fight and “rushed to the vehicle,” he said, “we do not have evidence that there were four people trying to open the doors.”

Newport News patrol officer Brittany Feldman testified she was helping to clear the game of fans, with a plan to have half the fans exit one side of the gym and half on the other. She then learned of a commotion about 100 to 150 feet from the school’s front entrance.

Feldman saw a silver sedan with its engine running, its headlights on and its driver’s door open, then saw a teen lying in a grassy area behind the car.

“He was dressed all in black, face down,” she said. “I was not expecting a gunshot wound. I only realized it when I rolled him over and had blood all over my hands.”

Feldman said she and another officer did CPR, and a third officer put a seal on Dunham’s chest wound. But she said she couldn’t feel a pulse, with Dunham being pronounced dead when Newport News EMS medics arrived about five minutes later.

Broccoletti contended the case was self-defense, “and at worst manslaughter” — adding that the only evidence the prosecution brought Thursday was Batten’s own interview.

“He was minding his own business,” Broccoletti said. “He left the game to avoid trouble,” and tried to avoid the assault by getting back into the car and trying to close the door. “He responds to that heat of passion provocation,” the attorney added.

But assistant commonwealth’s attorneys Mary Button and Kate Skarvan argued the charges should be certified to the grand jury. Button contended that malice — a necessary component for a murder charge — can be “presumed” in a violent death.

She further asserted that self-defense is “an affirmative defense” — an admission and justification for an action — that’s not appropriate at this stage of the proceedings. Moreover, Button also contended the idea that someone “could grab the gun that he shouldn’t have had” on school property was “an abstract fear” on Batten’s part.

Kurkjian sided with the prosecution, certifying the murder count and three gun charges. Another misdemeanor charge — carrying in a public place a loaded semi-automatic weapon with a magazine that can hold more than 20 rounds — will also go to Circuit Court.

After the hearing, Broccoletti said Batten is “very regretful” about the fatal shooting, but “did what he thought he had to do to protect himself.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749. pdujardin@dailypress.com