A SeaTac girl, charged in September 2021 with second-degree hit-and-run murder in the July 2021 death of jogger Gregory Moore in Maple Valley, now faces a March 14 court hearing.
At a Feb. 8 hearing, King County prosecutors asked for three weeks to review a mitigation report submitted by the defense, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Defense attorneys submitted that report in front of Judge Nelson Lee in juvenile court at the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle.
“A mitigation report is generally put together by the defense team that advises the court and the parties, on the psycho/social and educational history of the respondent (the SeaTac teen),” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in an email. “It generally gives an outline of their personal history and personal challenges they have faced which may have impacted the juvenile’s behavior which now brings them before the court in the current case.
“Mitigation reports generally contain all the things the defense wants the parties to know about the respondent as decisions are made about custody or placement, and later if there is an adjudication.”
A trial date has yet to be set. Because the case is in juvenile court, the trial would be in front of a judge and not a jury.
The girl, now 17 but 15 at the time of the incident, was charged in September 2021 with killing Moore, 53, as he jogged in the morning near his Maple Valley home. The Kent Reporter is not naming the girl because she is a juvenile. She has remained in custody at the Children and Family Justice Center since deputies took her into custody in September 2021.
A variety of reason for continuances in court has led to the lengthy case, now in its 18th month since charges were filed against the girl.
Prosecutors charged the girl for allegedly hitting Moore with a car and then fleeing the scene. She pleaded not guilty. The case remained unsolved for about eight weeks. King County Sheriff’s Office detectives used headlight fragments found near the scene, video surveillance and other evidence to identify a 2004 Toyota Camry that reportedly hit Moore and led detectives to the girl.
In addition to the second-degree murder charge, the teen also faces a second-degree assault and felony hit-and-run charge in a separate case. During the investigation into Moore’s death, detectives found evidence that led to further charges against the girl in a July 2021 hit-and-run in Des Moines that reportedly injured a pedestrian who has not yet been identified.
Youth who are 16 at the time of a crime can legally be charged as an adult if they are charged with a felony. The girl was charged in juvenile court because of her age.
The Moore family pushed hard for prosecutors to try the girl as an adult, but prosecutors stayed with their initial decision. If convicted by a judge as a juvenile, the teen will be released when she turns 21. If convicted by a jury in adult court, the girl could have faced a sentence of up to 20 years.
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