Wenatchee Boys Appeal Murder Sentences

Two 12-year-old Wenatchee boys who were convicted last January of shooting a migrant worker more than 18 times are appealing the sentences that will keep them in juvenile prison until they are 21.

Attorneys for Manuel Sanchez and John Duncan, now both 13, filed appeals in December on behalf of the boys, who are both lodged in Echo Glen, a state juvenile rehabilitation center near Snoqualmie.

Sanchez and Duncan were both convicted of first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1994, shooting of Emilio Pruneda, who threw rocks at the boys when their target-shooting disturbed him at a makeshift camp by the banks of the Columbia River. They also were convicted of burglary for stealing the guns they used in the slaying.

Eric Christianson, the appellate attorney for Sanchez, is appealing the conviction for murder and burglary as well as the exceptionally long sentence imposed.

Duncan’s attorney, Neil Fuller, is appealing only the long sentence.

“I looked over everything and decided there was sufficient evidence presented during the trial (for the conviction),” Fuller said. “What we are saying is that the sentence was inappropriate, it is too long.”