Trial begins in Ephrata killing

EPHRATA, Wash. – A 15-year-old boy accused of killing a playmate at an Ephrata park three years ago went on trial Monday, one of the youngest murder defendants in state history ever to be tried as an adult.

Evan Savoie was 12 years old when he was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the 2003 slaying of Craig Sorger. Sorger, a 13-year-old special education student, was found beaten and stabbed to death in a recreational vehicle park.

Savoie has said he is innocent. Jury selection began last week, and prosecutors and defense attorneys began opening statements in Grant County Superior Court on Monday.

Another playmate, Jake Eakin, of Moses Lake, also pleaded innocent to murder charges following the slaying. Two years later, he changed his story, saying Savoie committed the murder. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder by complicity under a plea deal, and a judge sentenced him to 14 years.

Eakin is expected to testify against Savoie.

More than 100 witnesses are expected to testify, including another boy who reportedly witnessed the murder and came forward later.

Defense attorneys maintain that someone else killed Sorger, and they contend that detectives botched the investigation.

They have not yet said if Savoie will testify.

Police found Sorger’s body at Oasis Park on Feb. 15, 2003.

A medical examiner said the boy had been beaten and stabbed so severely that the tip of a knife was found in his skull.

The killing shocked this community of 6,800 people about 100 miles west of Spokane and 180 miles east of Seattle.

Family members described Sorger, a skinny brown-eyed blond boy, as a “goofy” kid with a sophisticated sense of humor. He liked drinking Irish coffee with his grandmother.

He loved Hot Wheels, video games and catching turtles.

Sorger also was learning disabled, a special-education student at Ephrata Middle School, who struggled socially.

When his body was found, police immediately questioned Eakin and Savoie because Sorger had last been seen playing with them.

Both denied any wrongdoing, but there were discrepancies in their stories, police said, and Sorger’s blood was found on their clothing.

A judge then decided the boys should be tried as adults, a ruling that withstood appeal from defense attorneys. A first-degree murder conviction for an adult carries a standard sentencing range of 20 to 26 years in prison.