Teenager Charged In Deaths Of Her Parents Police Say Girl Helped Her Boyfriend Plan The Attack
A teenage girl whose boyfriend pleaded guilty to killing her adoptive parents has herself been charged in their deaths.
Starr Lake, 16, was charged Monday with two counts of second-degree murder in the July 24 shootings of Lester Leroy Lake and Velma Jean Lake, her grandparents and adoptive parents.
She was arrested Friday after her boyfriend, Michael Jansen, 17, admitted killing the College Place couple and pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.
Notes found in the girl’s bedroom indicated the Lakes were killed by the two teens to rid the girl of parental control and gain assets from their estate.
Jansen has agreed to testify against Starr Lake, deputy prosecutor Joe Golden said.
Jansen had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charges under a plea agreement in which the prosecution will recommend a 20-1/2-year prison sentence.
Since the deaths, Starr Lake had been living with her natural father, Cary Lake, in College Place.
Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge Robert Zagelow signed an order transferring the girl’s case to adult court. Zagelow also ordered her held in juvenile jail without bail pending her Nov. 17 arraignment.
On Friday, Jansen admitted he intentionally caused the deaths of Lester Lake, 66, and Velma Lake, 64, shooting them with a 9-mm handgun stolen from his father.
Sentencing was tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17.
Starr Lake told authorities in July that Jansen had been at her grandparents’ home the night they were slain, but had left before she awoke to the sound of gunshots and found their bodies.
But an affidavit prosecutors filed Monday alleges that after Jansen left, Starr Lake signaled for him to return. “Michael had already had the gun hidden in the house, and showed Starr where it was in her room. Starr handed him the gun and some gloves just prior to the shooting,” the affidavit said.
Court documents prosecutors filed Friday also implicate the girl in her adoptive parents’ deaths.
One note found in her room referred to her parents as “the potato heads,” an affidavit indicated. She allegedly indicated a strong dislike for the control her parents had over her life and listed several options, including killing them.
Other notes written by her and Jansen were found, including communications asking each other if they were “OK” with the plan.
One note said that “we have to do some quick thinking as to how - but I don’t want to take any chances on … screw-ups. … or something that would tie up their ‘estate.’ I’m sorry, but that would suck.”
The author of the note was not identified in the affidavit.
xxxx THE PLOT Notes found in Starr Lake’s bedroom indicated that her adoptive parents were killed in a plot to rid the girl of parental control and to gain assets from their estate. Her boyfriend, Michael Jansen, 17, admitted killing the couple, pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.