Guilty as Charged in Ingraham High School Case

Yesterday, the teen who shot another student to death at Ingraham High School in November 2022 pleaded guilty as charged.

That teen, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to each of the three felony counts charged by King County Prosecutors:

• Murder in the First Degree with a firearm enhancement
• Assault in the first degree with a firearm enhancement
• Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the Second Degree

Under state law, a 14-year-old charged with murder will have charges filed in juvenile court. Sentence lengths for convictions are determined by the legislature in the form of offense-specific sentencing ranges. The standard sentencing range for the crime of Murder in the First Degree is a period of incarceration with the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration of a minimum of 180 weeks up to the offender’s 21st birthday. Pursuant to statute, a sentencing court could find that a standard range sentence would effectuate a manifest injustice and, in making that determination, could sentence a juvenile offender to a period of confinement either below or above the standard range.

In this case, the court determined that both offender and crime specific aggravating factors existed warranting the imposition of a sentence above the standard range for both the crimes of Murder in the First Degree and Assault in the First Degree.

As a result, the court sentenced the Respondent to a period of incarceration with Juvenile Rehabilitation that will terminate on his 21st birthday and no earlier. Additionally, based on recent changes in the law, he will be eligible for an additional two years of parole supervision following his release from custody at age 21 through the age of 23. Ultimately, the sentence imposed was agreed to and recommended by all parties.

A 15-year-old also identified from events that day previously pleaded guilty as charged in September 2023. He pleaded guilty as charged to:

• Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the Second Degree
• Felony Rendering Criminal Assistance in the First Degree

Those were the charges referred by police, and prosecutors filed those charges after an independent review. The sentence handed down by the court was in line with sentencing guidelines set by state lawmakers. The teen’s sentence in 2023 was for 30 days in detention, 48 hours of community service and 12 months of community supervision. Again, those sentences are what state law allows for a juvenile convicted of these offenses and who has no previous conviction history (which was the case for this respondent).

This post is not expected to be updated. All available case document can be found through case numbers 22–8–00719–4 (for the teen who pleaded guilty as charged Monday) and case number 22–8–00720–8 (for the teen who pleaded guilty as charged in September).