SEATTLE — Ten minutes before a 17-year-old Ingraham High School student was fatally shot in a hallway last week, he was involved in a fight in a bathroom with five other students in a failed attempt to take a handgun from one of the teens, according to King County prosecutors.
The 14-year-old suspected shooter, who was also involved in the bathroom fight, was charged Monday with premeditated first-degree murder in the 17-year-old’s shooting death and also with first-degree assault, as charging papers say he is accused of shooting at a second 17-year-old boy.
Prosecutors also filed a motion Monday seeking a discretionary decline hearing, asking a juvenile court judge to decide whether to allow the 14-year-old to be criminally prosecuted as an adult, court records show. If the case were to remain in juvenile court and the 14-year-old was convicted of murder, under state law he would have to be released from custody at age 21. Should the case be transferred to adult court and result in conviction, the judge would have the discretion to impose any sentence deemed appropriate.
