Hearing To Decide How Boy Tried

Tue., March 5, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

A hearing to determine whether accused killer Barry Loukaitis will be tried as an adult will be open to the public, a Grant County judge decided Monday.

Loukaitis, 15, of Moses Lake is accused of shooting three students and a teacher at Frontier Junior High School on Feb. 2. He faces three counts of aggravated murder and one count of first-degree assault.

Defense attorney Garth Dano asked that the hearing be sealed and photographs forbidden. The hearing, which has not yet been scheduled, is expected to last a week.

Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline decided to allow media coverage of the hearing and refused Dano’s request that the attorneys be forbidden from discussing the case.

If convicted as an adult, Loukaitis would spend the rest of his life in prison. A juvenile conviction would allow his release when he turns 21.

Loukaitis is charged with killing students Manuel Vela, 14, and Arnold Fritz, 15, and algebra teacher Leona Caires, 49. A third student, 13-yearold Natalie Hintz, was injured.

, DataTimes

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