INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered the case of a boy who was convicted as an adult in the killing of a friend's stepfather be sent back to juvenile court.

The boy was 12 when he helped a friend kill the other boy's stepfather in 2010. The appeals court heard the boy's case in October.

The boy's attorneys argued that the Kosciusko County judge failed to consider whether a sixth-grader was mature enough to be tried as an adult.

Attorneys for the state argued that the boy waived his right to appeal as part of a plea agreement. The boy is now 14.

Prosecutors said the 12-year-old and his 15-year-old friend killed the older boy's stepfather at his home near Lake Wawasee in northern Indiana because he stood in the way of their plans to run away to Arizona.

The older boy pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.