Teen Asks To Change Plea In Trestle Death

A teenager who pleaded guilty in the death of another youth who was pushed off an old trestle in Bothell, Wash., has asked to withdraw the plea.

Brian Schrader’s attorney filed a motion late Friday to change the plea to not guilty to second-degree murder.

Schrader is accused of pushing 18-year-old Michael Schuerhoff off the abandoned trestle and into the Sammamish River, where he drowned.

Schrader, 18, of Mountlake Terrace, had made a deal with prosecutors in which they would recommend an eight-year prison sentence in exchange for his guilty plea and his cooperation in prosecuting three other teens who were accused of egging on Schrader and failing to help Schuerhoff after he fell Jan 2.

But Schrader refused to testify against the other three, who were found innocent of manslaughter.

The standard sentencing range for second-degree murder is 12 to 16 years in prison.