A trial date for a SeaTac teen could be set later this month as she faces a second-degree murder charge in the July 2021 hit-and-run death of a Maple Valley jogger.
King County Superior Court Judge Nelson K.H. Lee asked defense attorneys at a Oct. 6 hearing for an updated timeline when attorneys return Oct. 20 for another hearing, according to an email from Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jamie Kvistad.
The girl, 15 at the time of the incident, was charged in September 2021 with killing Gregory Moore, 53, as he jogged in the morning near his Maple Valley home. The Kent Reporter is not naming the girl because she is a juvenile.
“At the hearing, the state asked the court to take over judicial management of the case and Judge Lee indicated he would do so,” Kvistad said. “All further continuances will require a hearing in front of Judge Lee.”
Prosecutors charged the girl with second-degree murder for allegedly hitting Moore with a car and then fleeing the scene. She pleaded not guilty. The case remained unsolved for about eight weeks. King County Sheriff’s Office detectives used headlight fragments found near the scene, video surveillance and other evidence to identify a 2004 Toyota Camry that reportedly hit Moore.
The girl, who turned 17 on Oct. 1, was taken into custody Sept. 9, 2021. She has remained in custody at the county’s Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle.
“The state expressed concerns about the lengthy delay caused by defense and the effects on the Moore family as well as the approximately 400 days that (the girl) has spent in detention, which is not intended to be a long term placement for children,” Kvistad said.
A juvenile in custody that long typically would be housed at Echo Glen Children’s Center, a state facility, in Snoqualmie.
Michelle Moore, the widow of Gregory Moore, and her family pushed hard for prosecutors to try the girl as an adult. If convicted as a juvenile in a bench trial (before a judge not a jury), the teen will be released when she turns 21. If convicted by a jury in adult court, the girl could have faced a sentence of up to 20 years.
“This juvenile was 15 years old at the time of the offenses for which she was charged,” according to a Prosecuting Attorney’s Office statement after charges were filed. “She has no prior arrests or criminal history. The laws of our state presume that a child this age must be prosecuted in juvenile court.”
Youth who are 16 at the time of a crime can legally be charged as an adult if they are charged with a felony.
In addition to the second-degree murder charge, the teen also faces a second-degree assault and felony hit-and-run charge in a separate case. During the investigation into Moore’s death, detectives found evidence that led to further charges against the girl in a July 2021 hit-and-run in Des Moines that reportedly injured a pedestrian who has not yet been identified.
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