CROWN POINT | Darius Moore was "hysterical" when he found out two of his best friends, Brandon Smith and Dominique Green, were dead, Moore's mother Carmelita Evans testified Tuesday in Lake County Juvenile Court.

Moore wouldn't walk into his family's living room -- where the boys would sleep when they stayed over -- until all of the furnishings were changed, she said.

Moore, 18, of Gary, believed his dead friends were around him constantly, haunting him, Evans said. He was driving Sept. 15 when the Chevrolet Caprice they occupied careened off Chase Street in Gary, smashed through a guardrail and ejected Smith and Green, both 18.

Moore's struggle to deal with his friends' deaths is amplified by a legal battle.

Juvenile Court Magistrate Jeffrey Miller delayed a decision Tuesday on whether to waive Moore to adult court. He was 17 years old at the time of the crash.

Moore faces 10 criminal charges -- including two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated -- in the fatal crash, records show.

Moore had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.05, according to toxicology reports discussed in court Tuesday. That amount is under Indiana's legal limit of 0.08, but Moore is underage.

Lake County prosecutors are urging Moore to be waived to adult court. If convicted there, he would face a tougher sentence.

Juvenile probation officer Erika Theus said Tuesday that Moore is excluded from a lot of the juvenile court options because he is now 18.

Defense attorney Karen Freeman-Wilson argued Tuesday that Moore's decision-making the morning of the accident was that of a teenager.

Green's and Smith's family members do not want charges filed against Moore, Freeman-Wilson said. She said Smith's mother appeared with Moore at his first interview in court.

Moore, survivor DeAndre Anderson, Smith and Green were inseparable before the accident, Evans testified.

She told the court her son has missed school and talked about suicide since the incident.

Moore and Anderson went looking for help and told police Smith and Green remained injured at the accident scene, but police failed to locate Smith and Green. Hours later, Arthur Smith, the father of Brandon Smith, found his son and Green.

Miller continued the waiver hearing to July 22. He said he may allow the victims' families to testify in court, write a letter or be interviewed by the probation department.