Loukaitis Trial To Start In May

The triple-murder trial of Moses Lake teenager Barry Loukaitis should start May 12, a Grant County judge ruled Friday.

Loukaitis, 15, has pleaded innocent to the killings of his math teacher and two classmates last February at Frontier Junior High School.

The trial has been delayed a number of times, first when the judge had to decide if Loukaitis would be tried as an adult, and then to assign a new attorney to defend him.

During a pretrial hearing, Loukaitis’s attorney, Michael Frost of Seattle, indicated another delay may be needed.

“He didn’t make the request today,” said Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper. “But there were noises in that direction.”

Cooper, who replaced the previous judge in charge of the Loukaitis case, has moved the trial to King County to ensure selection of an impartial jury.

Loukaitis has said he was not sane the day he brought a rifle into his class and killed classmates Arnold Fritz and Manuel Vela, both 14, and teacher Leona Caires.

, DataTimes