The fate of 15-year-old Tim Lozano is still pending, awaiting a decision from Associate Juvenile Judge Victor Lathrop of whether he will be tried as an adult.

The hearing, delayed on two occasions, occurred Aug. 1.

Lozano is charged with vehicular homicide, involuntary manslaughter and fleeing the scene of an accident in relation to a car crash that occurred May 18.

At press time, Lathrop had not reached a decision as to whether Lozano will be tried as an adult

Linda Chittenden, formerly of 1411 Harding Ave., died when the 1990 blue Volvo Lozano was driving collided with the driver’s side door of Chittenden’s 1998 Ford Contour at the intersection of 16th Street and Roosevelt Avenue.

Police responded to the accident at 10:42 p.m. Lozano, who was traveling north on Roosevelt Avenue, failed to stop at a posted stop sign.

Lozano and the four passengers of the car fled the scene of the accident. All the passengers were under the age of 16, police said. Lozano is the only one facing charges.

Consumption of alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the accident, police said.

Lozano was taken into custody May 19. He is being held at the Eldora State Training School for juvenile offenders.

The Story County Attorney’s office filed a juvenile detention form May 20, seeking to try Lozano in adult court rather than juvenile court.

According to the filed document, the Story County Attorney’s office is seeking to try Lozano as an adult because there are no reasonable prospects of rehabilitation, and it is in the best interest of the community and the child.

The car driven by Lozano was registered to John Hauptman, professor of physics and astronomy at Iowa State. Police said Hauptman’s son was a passenger in the car the evening it collided with Chittenden’s Contour.

Chittenden died as a result of the impact of the vehicles, authorities said. A reconstruction of the accident by the Ames Police Department helped determine the speed of the Volvo to be in excess of 50 mph.

The impact forced Chittenden’s vehicle to slam into a stop sign.

“As the car slid out of control, it struck the stop sign for southbound Roosevelt. [The impact] uprooted the sign in the process,” said Ames Police Sgt. Jim Johnson.

Johnson was in charge of reconstructing the accident.

Lozano had only been in Ames a few weeks before the accident. He was staying with his father, Steven Lozano, 1117 North Third St.

Previously, Lozano lived in Idaho, where he lived with his mother, Sandra Quigley. Steven Lozano and Quigley are divorced.

Lozano had been put on probationary status in Idaho before moving to Ames, according to court documents.

The terms of Lozano’s probation included no law violations, no use of alcohol or controlled substances and a 9 p.m. curfew, according to court documents.

Mike McGrory, principal of Ames High, said that Lozano was not a student in Ames.

“He didn’t attend Ames High,” McGrory said. “His actions are not representative of our students.”

The hearing to determine whether Lozano would be tried as an adult was originally scheduled for June 16, but was postponed until July 21 at the request of Lozano’s attorney Adria Stonehocker.

Stonehocker asked for the delay so a psychiatric evaluation could be performed on Lozano.

The evaluation was recommended after a nurse examined Lozano May 31.

“Since the minor child’s placement at Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, the child has complained of headaches, neck and back pain, of hearing voices in his head and of hallucinations,” according to court documents.

The prosecution asked for the postponement in July because a witness and Assistant Story County Attorney Richard Early could not attend.

If Lozano goes to adult court, he could face up to 15 years in prison, said Stephen Holmes, Story County Attorney.

Vehicular homicide, a C Felony, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. If Lozano is convicted of vehicular homicide and fleeing the scene of the accident in an adult court, he must serve 85 percent of the sentence, Holmes said, or in Lozano’s case, eight and a half years.

Manslaughter is punishable by an additional five years in prison.

— Daily staff reports contributed to this article.