A 13-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in connection with his father's Oct. 23 shooting death at his Thurston County home will be tried as a juvenile, not an adult.
During a hearing this morning, Juvenile Court Commissioner Indu Thomas and the boy's attorney, James Dixon, did not contest Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Wayne Graham's recommendation that the boy's case remain in juvenile court.
The boy is accused of fatally shooting his father, Jimmie Asher Jr., 39, at close range in the back of the head as Asher Jr. slept in bed with his fiancee at their home in the 10900 block of Delphi Road.
Graham said in court that he arrived at the decision to keep the boy's case in Thurston County Juvenile Court after reviewing the results of his psychological examination, which is sealed and unavailable to the public. He also said he considered the factors set forth in a U.S. Supreme Court case, Kent v. United States, that are to be applied in considering whether to move a juvenile case to adult court.
They include the following:
• The seriousness of the alleged offense and whether the community would be protected by moving the case to adult court.
• "Whether the alleged offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated or willful manner."
• "Whether the alleged offense was against persons or against property, greater weight being given to offenses against persons especially if personal injury resulted."
• "The prosecutive merit of the complaint."
• "The sophistication and maturity of the juvenile."
• The juvenile's previous criminal history
• Graham has said in court that the evidence shows the 13-year-old shot his father, "with a close-range gunshot to the back of his head" and was standing "no further than 24 inches from the back of his head" at the time the shot was fired. That evidence contradicts the 13-year-old's statement to police that he was 10 to 12 feet from his father's bed when the gun went off accidentally.
The boy also gave conflicting statements to sheriff's detectives about what happened on the night of his father's shooting. He first stated that he heard a gunshot from his room, but then said the gun went off accidentally when he went to investigate noises coming from his father's room.
"By his own admission, the 13-year-old, "did not check the welfare" of his father or his father's fiancee after the shot was fired, court records state.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445
jpawloski@theolympian.com
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