Sentencing Set for Yakima School Shooter After Guilty Plea

2022-08-14 22:15:00 By : Mr. Lewis Wei

A planned juvenile court trial for a school shooter in Yakima won't happen after the 15-year-old suspect plead guilty this week to a charge of second-degree murder in connection to the March 15 shooting at Eisenhower High School.  Jessy James Lee Krikorian Jr. also plead guilty in Yakima County Juvenile Court to two counts of second-degree assault.

Krikorian Jr. killed his cousin in the shooting identified as 16-year-old Dwight Tolbert. Brusic decided days after the shooting that he would not file charges in adult court saying he doubted a judge would have approved moving the case from juvenile court. Sentencing is set for September 20. Brusic says as a result of being charged in juvenile court Krikorian Jr. will likely face a sentence of no more than 5 years in juvenile jail.

34-year-old Juan Carlos Ceja has plead guilty to taking a motor vehicle without permission and eluding police in connection with a stolen car and kidnapping on May 29. The Hermiston Oregon man was taken into custody after stealing a vehicle at a Yakima Post Office with a 1-year-old child in a carseat. The child was found unharmed in an alleyway in Union Gap still in a carseat. The suspect fled the area and was stopped and arrested by authorities near Benton City. A judge on Wednesday sentenced Ceja to 14 months and one day in prison. Prosecutors dropped the charge of kidnapping in exchange in the plea agreement.