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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Student faces formal charges in Ferris case

A former Ferris High School student was formally charged Wednesday with attempting to murder an English teacher he had previously threatened.

Jacob D. Carr, 14, was charged in Spokane County Juvenile Court with attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, theft of a firearm and second-degree illegal possession of a firearm.

Deputy Prosecutor Bill Reeves said he would confer with his supervisors and decide within a few days whether to ask a judge to transfer Carr to adult court.

Carr remained locked in the county Juvenile Detention Center pending a court hearing scheduled April 8. At that hearing, Carr could simply be advised of his rights and his next court date, or Reeves could file a motion for a hearing to transfer him to adult court.

If Carr is convicted as charged in juvenile court, he will face a standard range of 141/2 to 163/4 months in a state detention center for the attempted-murder count, plus up to two months in the county detention center and up to 300 hours of community service on the other two counts.

If he is convicted as charged in adult court, Carr will face a standard range of 20 to 25 years in prison on the attempted-murder charge, including a mandatory five years for use of a gun.

He could get 12 to 14 months on the gun-theft charge and one to three months on the gun-possession charge in adult court. Sentences on those charges could be folded into the attempted-murder sentence if they were found to be part of the same “course of conduct.”

A police affidavit in support of the charges says Carr went to Ferris last Thursday afternoon and got within six feet of English teacher Michelle Klein-Coles, whom he intended to kill with a .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

The affidavit, based on statements Carr allegedly gave to detectives, says Klein-Coles was working at a computer. Carr allegedly feared the other adults in the room would prevent him from killing himself after killing Klein-Coles.

Police say Carr waited more than an hour outside the room for an opportunity to get Klein-Coles alone. He said he thought about going ahead and killing her despite the other adults’ presence, but Klein-Coles left the building while he was getting a drink of water, according to police.

There was no indication in Detective Don Giese’s report that Klein-Coles saw Carr, who had been convicted of threatening to kill her and was under a court order to stay away from her and the school.