Boy charged for mom’s murder

SEATTLE – A 16-year-old Renton boy accused of strangling his mother and dumping her body in a recycling bin was charged Friday with first-degree murder, King County prosecutors said.

Dale Ray Frank was charged as an adult in Superior Court and was held on $1 million bail.

Frank had told a friend recently that he wanted to kill his mother and had been thinking about how to do it, according to court papers.

Prosecutors allege the boy killed Melody Maddox, 43, during an argument March 9 and put her body in a recycling bin at their apartment complex. The body was found Sunday.

“I don’t feel bad about it” and “She was coming at me. … She wouldn’t stop screaming” were among the statements witnesses say the boy made, Deputy Prosecutor Erin E. Ehlert told a judge earlier this week during a juvenile court hearing.

A number of the teen’s relatives have turned out to support him in court appearances this week.

Defense lawyer Simmie Baer said Maddox had been in a downward spiral from alcohol and drug abuse.

Ehlert said detectives found tire prints in the apartment carpet consistent with the recycling bin and believe the killer wheeled it into the living room through a sliding glass door, then wheeled it out again with the body inside.

Frank will be arraigned March 29. The sentencing range for a first-degree murder conviction is 20 to 26 years.