Fall City grieves as boy, 15, faces 5 murder counts in mass shooting

They were the last family you would ever expect anything like this to happen to, said Rhea Roberts at a vigil Tuesday, after a mass shooting left two adults and three children dead near Fall City.

Roberts coaches the Golden Nuggets, a soccer team of 8- and 9-year-old kids. One of the boys found dead Monday morning, at a family home near Lake Alice, played on the team. The coach remembered him as “perpetually happy.” She said he always helped her clean up gear at the end of practice.

About 50 mourners gathered Tuesday evening in a small Methodist church with stained glass windows off 337th Place Southeast. They held white candles while they prayed and sang hymnals. Attendees also made paper bag lanterns in honor of the deceased.

The 15-year-old boy accused of killing five people, as well as injuring an 11-year-old girl, waived his right to appear in court Tuesday.

King County Juvenile Court Judge Joe Campagna found probable cause for five counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, ordering the teenager to be held in secure detention. The hearing took place at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle.

The Seattle Times typically does not name suspects until they have been charged and does not name juvenile respondents unless they are charged as adults.

In ordering the 15-year-old to remain in secure detention, Campagna said the alleged crimes are of “the gravest possible seriousness” and if released, the teen represents “the highest possible risk to community safety.”

Defense attorney Amy Parker noted the 15-year-old, who enjoys mountain biking and fishing, has no criminal history.

King County sheriff’s Deputy Mike Mellis described a “chaotic scene” inside the home Monday on Lake Alice Road Southeast. He said firearms were involved.

Mellis did not identify the victims, nor did he have the children’s exact ages or genders. He declined to comment on whether the incident involved parents and their children, but said it appears the suspect and victims were family.

As of Tuesday, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office had not released the identities of those who were killed.

The sixth victim, a girl, remained in “satisfactory condition,” Susan Gregg, a spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center, said Tuesday.

Prosecutors expect to make a charging decision by Thursday. Should the teen be charged, he will appear for arraignment Friday.

King County prosecutors may also seek what is known as a discretionary decline hearing, so a judge can determine whether to keep the case in juvenile court or decline jurisdiction and have the case moved to superior, or adult, court.

While 16- and 17-year-olds charged with murder and certain other serious violent offenses can be automatically charged as adults, a decline hearing is required for younger teens. A juvenile-court judge must weigh eight factors — known as “Kent factors,” based on a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision — in determining whether a case stays in juvenile court or is transferred for adjudication in adult court.

Among the things a judge must consider are the seriousness of the allegations and the sophistication and maturity of the juvenile. In most cases, juvenile court jurisdiction ends on a person’s 21st birthday.

Fall City’s population hovers around 2,000 people. The family lived about 3 miles south of the church.

Pastor Carrie Bland, of Fall City United Methodist Church, didn’t know the family personally, but said she felt moved to host the vigil to give the tight-knit community a place to grieve.

“I did not know the family, but knowing that they were just down the street from us and the fact that they were a part of this community — I see the whole community as part of my congregation, whether I knew them or not,” she said, watching people enter the chapel. “I felt like it was important for us to be there.”

Material from The Seattle Times archives is included in this story.