Jury Still Out On Murder Plot Case

A jury will resume deliberations Tuesday in the case of a 16-year-old girl charged with killing her adoptive parents.

Starr Lake, charged with second-degree murder, is accused of plotting the shooting deaths of her parents last July. Her former boyfriend has confessed to being the triggerman.

Even though the jury has repeatedly claimed it is deadlocked this week, Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge Robert Zagelow ordered jurors to return next week.

The jury, which has been deliberating since Tuesday, told the judge again on Friday that it could not come to a decision.

Zagelow polled each of the 12 jurors individually and asked if a verdict would be possible if the jury were given more time.

Ten jurors said no; two said it was possible.

Prosecutors contend Lake plotted the killings of Lester Leroy Lake, 66, and Velma Jean Lake, 64, who were also her grandparents, to escape her their control and to get a piece of their estate.