Comeslast Pleads Innocent In Girls’ Fatal Shootings

A 15-year-old boy pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges he fatally shot two teenage girls and wounded another as they sat on the front porch of a home.

Kenneth Comeslast entered the plea in Spokane County Superior Court to two counts of aggravated first-degree murder. The Spokane youth also faces assault and property damage charges.

A juvenile court judge ruled Oct. 13 that Comeslast will stand trial as an adult.

If convicted on the murder charges, Comeslast would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Had he been tried as a juvenile, he could be held only until age 21.

Prosecutors say that on Aug. 9, Comeslast sprayed a northeast Spokane home with bullets from an assault rifle, killing Kendra Grantham, 16, and Cindy Buffin, 17.

A third girl who had been on the porch with Grantham and Buffin was wounded, and a fourth girl was not hurt.

Authorities say the shooting was the result of a gang dispute.

Prosecutors said a December trial date likely would be pushed back to April.

, DataTimes