The Chehalis juvenile charged with second-degree assault and malicious harassment in February was arraigned Tuesday.

    Charges were filed against the 17-year-old, along with a relative, Daniel Ward, 19, after an alleged hate crime occurred on a county logging road early in the morning on Valentine’s Day.

    Though county prosecutors sought to try the 17-year-old as an adult, Superior Court Judge James Lawler determined that he would still be tried as a juvenile.

    The boy is subject to a standard range of 80-100 weeks in a Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration facility if convicted. A fact-finding court date for his case is scheduled for June 23.

    The fight under scrutiny took place at 2 a.m. Feb. 14, when Ward allegedly became angry after seeing a young woman he knew with an African-American male on the logging road outside of Rochester, according to court documents.

    Those documents state that Ward uttered racial slurs as he knocked the man to the ground, hitting him in the head with a large rock and punching him repeatedly in the face. The African-American male then retaliated by stabbing Ward in the back with a pocket knife.

    Ward’s juvenile relative was also involved and was arrested, according to the documents.

    A malicious harassment charge denotes a hate crime, said Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden. According to the Revised Code of Washington, malicious harassment is a Class C felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Second-degree assault is a Class B felony and has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.