Fall City mass shooting: Records show possible defense for teen suspect

Defense attorneys for the 15-year-old boy accused in the slaying of his parents and three of his younger siblings are arguing the teenager’s narrative — that his younger brother killed the family before killing himself — is “forensically viable,” according to court documents.

The 15-year-old was charged last week with five counts of first-degree aggravated murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder for allegedly killing his family and injuring his 11-year-old sister on Oct. 21 in their home south of Fall City by Lake Alice.

The Seattle Times typically does not name juvenile suspects unless they are charged as adults. The victims of the mass shooting are 43-year-old Mark Humiston, 42-year-old Sarah Humiston and three of their children: Katheryn Humiston, 7; Joshua Humiston, 9; and Benjamin Humiston, 13.

Family members of the victims declined to speak with the media last week.

Prosecutors allege the 15-year-old framed his younger brother when he called 911 and reported his 13-year-old brother killed the family and then himself, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court. During that call, a neighbor also called 911, saying the surviving 11-year-old sister ran to the neighbor’s house and said her family members had been shot, according to the document.

The 11-year-old girl told the neighbor she heard gunshots and screaming, then her 15-year-old brother shot at her, according to charges. She later told investigators that she saw her 15-year-old brother leaning over the bodies in the home to check if they were alive before she escaped from a bedroom window, according to court documents.

Detectives and prosecutors allege the 15-year-old “staged the scene before the arrival of first responders to make it appear that (his 13-year-old brother) had committed the murders,” according to the probable cause documents. The 13-year-old, Benjamin, was found with a gunshot wound to the head and with the Glock in his left hand on his chest.

However, the King County medical examiner’s office determined the 13-year-old boy must have been shot by a gun further than 2 feet away because there was “no scorching or stippling” — injuries that occur at close range — observed around his two wounds, according to charges.

Defense attorneys for the 15-year-old wrote in a court declaration Monday that there are “two versions of events”: the 15-year-old’s and the 11-year-old’s. Attorney Amy Parker wrote there is no evidence the 15-year-old had forensics on his body and argued prosecutors did not outline a clear motive.

The 11-year-old girl told investigators her older brother had recently gotten into “a lot of trouble” for failing some tests.

Parker wrote there is no mention the boy had blood on him in 106 pages of evidence, and argued “no one who was involved in this shooting would have escaped without a substantial amount of blood” on them. Parker also wrote that multiple gunshot wounds are possible in suicides, according to the declaration.

“Because of the quick arrest in this case and the narrow focus by law enforcement, a defense review of the crime scene is needed,” the declaration states.

Parker wrote that defense attorneys were only allowed into the home for one hour several days after the killings and requested the defense be able to investigate the crime scene again, according to the declaration.

“It is my experience that law enforcement can and does engage in bias investigations when they think they have the ‘right’ suspect,” the declaration states.

Attorneys for the maternal grandmother of the children, who is now the 11-year-old girl’s guardian, asked a judge to deny the defense team entry into the home. Attorneys wrote in a response that the Washington State Patrol investigators processed the scene for 20 hours and took over 1,200 photographs, adding that the grandmother wants to have the property cleaned and retrieve the family’s personal items.

The judge ordered the house be preserved and allowed the defense team about 10 hours to enter the home and document evidence on Tuesday.

Last week, King County prosecutors requested a discretionary decline hearing, in which they would argue the juvenile court should decline jurisdiction and have the 15-year-old’s case transferred to adult court. A judge ordered the hearing be held June 4.

The decision to hold the decline hearing triggers a defense investigation into the myriad circumstances surrounding the case, in what is essentially a minitrial to determine whether it is in the boy’s or the public’s best interest to transfer a case to adult court. A juvenile court judge must weigh eight factors, known as “Kent factors,” based on a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision.