Nicole Lee is afraid of what prison will do to her son.

Scrawny, 16-year-old Denzel Nowlin was sentenced to 3 1/2 to 7 years in state prison last week after pleading guilty to armed robbery. He was charged as an adult, which is required in Pennsylvania because of the seriousness of the crime, and a judge ruled against sending his case to juvenile court.

A troubled teen with learning disabilities, Denzel made strides while he spent about nine months at George Junior Republic, a youth detention center in Grove City, Mercer County.

"Now he's gotta go to prison with men?" said Ms. Lee, 48, of North Braddock. "He's not an adult."

But in the eyes of the courts, Denzel crossed the threshold into adulthood by participating in a home invasion Sept. 3.

According to police, Denzel, then 15, and Gordon Hackaday forced their way into a Swissvale home and demanded money from two women while waving guns. Gordon, who also was 15, put a gun to one woman's head, while Denzel fired a shot into the window, one victim told police.

When the women said they had no money, the boys fled through the back door.

Both were initially charged as adults, but Gordon's case, through an agreement with prosecutors, was transferred to juvenile court.

Denzel, who was offered no such deal, faced a decertification hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony M. Mariani.

At decertification hearings, the judge decides whether to send the case to juvenile court or treat the defendant as an adult, weighing such factors as the seriousness of the crime, and the defendant's criminal history and ability to benefit from treatment in juvenile facilities.

During his hearing in January, Denzel's difficult childhood was laid bare in open court. He was always assigned to special education classes at school, but was a promising athlete.

Denzel was 11 when his brother, 23-year-old Vito Lee, was shot to death in 2004 outside a McKeesport bar. The trial for the man charged with Mr. Lee's killing, Cameron Meadows, had been scheduled to begin today, but the case has been postponed until October.

"He has unresolved grief regarding his brother," said Debbie Krepps Young, Denzel's therapist at George Junior.

Around age 13, Ms. Lee said, Denzel started chasing girls, skipping school and spending nights away from home. And he got into scrapes with the law, including shoplifting and a fight in school that resulted in police charging him with assault.

Ms. Young said the charges were far less severe than most of what she deals with at George Junior. But that history, and psychologist Alice Applegate's testimony at the decertification hearing that Denzel was likely to re-offend, weighed in favor of keeping the case in adult court.

Judge Mariani said the decision was difficult because a juvenile court adjudication doesn't come with a fixed sentence. Instead, juveniles are re-evaluated periodically to assess if they can safely return to the community.

"If I knew I could get five years for [him] across the street [in juvenile court], of course I'd take the five years in a treatment facility rather than" prison, the judge said in January. "At least then maybe we'd get something out of it."

The decision infuriated Ms. Lee, who complained that Denzel's co-defendant, despite being accused of putting a gun to the woman's head, got a much better deal. She also questioned why Judge Mariani sent the high-profile case of Robertino DeAngelis, a Mt. Lebanon teen charged with hitting his girlfriend over the head with a hammer, to juvenile court, while her son was charged as an adult in a case in which no one was hurt.

Adjudicated juveniles typically aren't held in detention centers for lengthy spells, while punishment in the adult system can be much more severe.

Denzel faced a mandatory five-year minimum sentence if convicted because a firearm was used in the home invasion. Rather than take his chances at trial, he accepted the plea deal.

"He's just a very troubled young man who didn't have the right tools and maybe not always the right people around him to put him in the right direction," said Denzel's attorney, Candace Ragin of the Office of Conflict Counsel.

"Ultimately his case was resolved, and I think that he was comfortable with the resolution. But it's just a sad case. Another young man who may potentially remain in the system."

Ms. Young said that because of Denzel's youth and slight build, she is worried he will be raped, and that his personality will be irrevocably changed.

"To survive in that environment, you have to become very vicious," she said.

Ms. Young said Denzel was doing well in counseling and special needs programming at George Junior, and earned honor roll distinction for his academic performance.

That level of treatment is not available at most of Pennsylvania's state prisons, but there is the option of State Correctional Institution Pine Grove, in Indiana, Pa. Pine Grove houses offenders 15 to 20 years old who are serving adult sentences, and emphasizes treatment and counseling for youths.

Denzel was sent to SCI Camp Hill last week to be processed and await determination of a placement. His age makes him eligible for Pine Grove, but it's no guarantee.

And even if Denzel gets effective treatment, he'll retain the stigma and record of a convicted felon.

"Now that he's got an adult record, that's going to ruin his life," Ms. Lee said. "He's not going to be able to get a decent job."

Pennsylvania's Act 33 law requires district attorneys to prosecute cases in adult court when suspects age 15 to 17 are accused of committing a violent felony with a deadly weapon, or are charged with a violent felony for the second time. The law puts the burden on the juvenile to show that such a case should be sent to juvenile court.

Ms. Young said that is unfair because research shows teenage brains are not fully formed to make adult decisions.

"We need to look again at what we do with juveniles sentenced as adults considering the developmental issues," Ms. Young said. "To lock them up and make them worse does no good."

The decision to lock up Denzel is yet another trauma for a family all too familiar with it.

Of Ms. Lee's four sons, one is dead, another is in prison and a third, 20-year-old Artimus Nowlin, is in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting trial on robbery charges.

In September 2007, Jason J. Dorsey was accused of trying to burn Ms. Lee's house while she, Denzel and her youngest son, Desmon, were inside. Mr. Dorsey was charged with arson, attempted homicide and other offenses and is scheduled for trial in October.

"I can't even stand to come outside sometimes," Ms. Lee said. "I cry a lot."

And then there's Denzel Nowlin Jr., born April 1 and beginning his life with an absent father. Cradled by his mother, Wanda Fitzgerald, the infant was in court last week to catch a brief glimpse of his father as Denzel stared down the responsibilities of manhood -- ready or not.