FORT WORTH, Texas — A judge has ruled a 16-year-old boy arrested in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in a North Texas landfill will be tried as an adult.

The decision came after a nearly four-hour court hearing Wednesday in Fort Worth.

Frank Alder, the teenager’s attorney, told state District Judge Tim Menikos the teen would be held more accountable in a juvenile facility if he was found guilty.

Police in Bedford allege the teen used a hammer to kill Kaytlynn Cargill.

She had been reported missing in June after she didn’t return to her Bedford home from walking her dog. A waste collection worker found her body two days later in an Arlington landfill.

Police found in the boy’s possession a hammer with blood on it.