Teenager Formally Charged With Girl’s Murder

Joey Brooks was chatting with another inmate and smiling shortly before his first appearance in Spokane County District Court on Tuesday.

But Brooks started crying when court Commissioner Virginia Rockwood read aloud the criminal complaint against him.

The 17-year-old high school dropout formally was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 16-year-old girlfriend, Dianna Meyer of Spokane.

Rockwood set Brooks’ bail at $150,000 - cash only.

Sheriff’s detectives say Brooks pointed a loaded shotgun inches from Meyer’s head last Wednesday and pulled the trigger.

Meyer, who had dated Brooks for about a year, died in the living room of the Chattaroy trailer the boy shares with his mother.

Brooks, who claims the shooting was an accident, will be prosecuted as an adult. He is being held in the county jail instead of the juvenile detention center. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo