Will the Fall City teen murder suspect be tried as an adult? What we know
SEATTLE - Prosecutors are still waiting to learn if the 15-year-old accused of gunning down his family in their Fall City home will be tried as a child or as an adult.
The teen accused of killing his mother, father, younger sister and younger brother — and then staging the incident to look like a murder-suicide perpetrated by his brother — appeared in court Friday. The teen's defense attorneys spoke on his behalf.
The proceedings will begin to determine if the teen will be tried in juvenile or adult court. This decision could take months, as the judge will hear from both sides.
The teen's public defenders issued the following statement after the hearing:
"With regard to the issues before the court today in this case, we understand the State is seeking discretionary decline. We have only been provided the superform and the 3.5 page certification for probable cause in this case. We are eager to get discovery in order to further evaluate the government’s claims. There are significant details that we would expect to see in a certification that are not in the certification for probable cause. Therefore, we are asking the court to order that discovery provided promptly, including a copy of all the police reports, forensics, and any other information obtained in the course of this investigation."
"Given the media interest in this case and the seriousness of these charges, we want the court to know that multiple people in the community have reached out to us who know our client, and they have attested to his good character. He has been described by them as kind and caring. This is a boy who has many friends, has pro-social interests, and has been a positive contributor to his community. However, we are not addressing release at this time. We want the court to know this information, since the only information the Court has right now is the certification for probable cause and the charging documents."
The teen was identified as the suspect by his 11-year-old sister, who managed to escape the horrific shooting by playing dead, then climbing out a window and running to a neighbor's house.
This is not the same as determining if the teen will be tried as a juvenile or an adult, prosecutors note, only the venue. The courts have different sentencing guidelines; if the teen is convicted in juvenile court, he would only be held until age 25. If the teen is sentenced in adult court, the sentencing can range from 25 years to life.
Prosecutors say they are also amending the charges for the teenager, removing the domestic violence designations on the charges involving his younger brother and sisters.
Originally, all six charges, including first-degree murder and attempted murder, had the domestic violence designation. Prosecutors say Washington state law defines "family or household members" in a domestic violence charge as:
- Adult persons related by blood or marriage
- Adult persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past
- Persons who have a biological or legal parent-child relationship, including stepparents and stepchildren and grandparents and grandchildren.
The King County Prosecutor's Office says this does not apply to the younger siblings who were killed, but it does apply to the parents.
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