Families Wait For Justice From Loukaitis Jury After 19 Months Of Hearings And Arguments, Relatives Of Victims Await Killer’s Fate
Jury deliberations were to resume today in the trial of 16-year-old Barry Loukaitis, who shot four people in a 1996 classroom attack.
The vigil here by the Moses Lake families changed forever by the shootings will resume as well.
They’ve had a long wait for justice since Feb. 2, 1996, when Loukaitis - dressed in black and armed with three guns and dozens of rounds of ammunition - opened fire on his Frontier Junior High algebra class with a .30-30 deer rifle, killing a teacher and two classmates and critically wounding a 13-year-old girl.
Loukaitis, then 14, is being tried as an adult.
He is pleading innocent by reason of insanity to three counts of aggravated first-degree murder, one count each of attempted murder and second-degree assault, and 16 counts of kidnapping.
Jury deliberations began Thursday afternoon. Since testimony began here Aug. 25, the families of the two youngsters killed by Loukaitis - Manuel Vela and Arnold Fritz, both 14 - have been represented every day in the small courtroom set aside by King County for the Grant County proceeding. The trial was moved here on a change of venue.
Joining the Velas and the Fritzes are the grandparents of Natalie Hintz, who at 13 was critically wounded and still has not fully recovered.
The families juggle work, child care and other day-to-day responsibilities, making the 175-mile drive over the Cascades from central Washington at the start of every week to attend the trial.
The family of Leona Caires, the algebra teacher who died in rampage, has left Moses Lake. Her husband, former Frontier Vice Principal Stephen Caires, now works for the school district in Palouse, close to the Idaho border, where the couple raised their four children. He has not returned to the courtroom here since he testified for the state.
Loukaitis’ father, Terry, has been here every day since jury selection began in mid-August. He helps the defense attorneys shift files into the courtroom, takes notes on the proceedings and tries to be there for his youngest boy. He was joined midtrial by his own father, who lives in Iowa.
His ex-wife, Jody Philips - who testified about her own emotional problems and the role they played in the disintegration of her son - returned to the courtroom for closing arguments and says she will be here for the verdict.
The 19-month wait is nearly over.
“I’ve been very disappointed in the justice system that takes this long to get the case to the jury,” said Helmut Hintz, here with his wife, Myrtle, to see their granddaughter’s assailant brought to justice.
The trial was delayed by the hearings that led to Loukaitis’ being tried as an adult, by changes in judges, changes in defense attorneys and, finally, the change of venue granted to address concerns about extensive pre-trial publicity in rural Grant County.
Many of the delays were necessary to eliminate grounds for appeal that could further delay resolution of the case, family members say. And both sides are content with the trial’s handling by Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper, assigned after a Grant County judge stepped down.
Although neither side is happy with all of Cooper’s rulings, they consider him just and fair. His approach may be exemplified by an early ruling on the admissibility of morgue photographs of the victims, which defense attorneys opposed as prejudicial.
“I’m not going to sanitize this trial,” said Cooper, who allowed the photographs into evidence.
xxxx WHAT’S NEXT? Jury deliberations resume today; they began Thursday afternoon.