Prosecutor wants to try Quincy teen as adult for murder

Mandatory declination hearing scheduled to begin June 15

A judge will decide whether a 15-year-old Quincy girl will be tried in adult court for the death of her newborn baby.

Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Carole Highland moved Wednesday morning that Nicole Gonzales have a declination hearing to move her case out of juvenile court.

All children from ages 15 to 17 charged with a class A felony are required to have a hearing to decline juvenile jurisdiction unless both parties decide otherwise, according to state law.

Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline set the declination hearing for June 15 at 2 p.m.

Gonzales is accused of smothering her newborn baby girl in a blanket and leaving her to die outside her bedroom after giving birth on Jan. 11. She faces charges of second-degree murder.

According to police reports, Gonzales told Quincy police while she was in the hospital that the baby was stillborn.

Chelan County Coroner Gina Fino, who performed the autopsy, ruled the baby was born alive then died of exposure or smothering.

Based on Fino's ruling, birth and death certificates have been issued for the child and reported to the state Department of Health, Highland said.

Gonzales had hidden her pregnancy from her family because she feared her mother would think she was promiscuous, according to police reports. Gonzales also told police that she became pregnant by a rape, though she never reported the crime, according to a police report.

Gonzales must remain at home until her hearing from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m, according to Sperline. She will not be held in the Grant County Youth Detention Center.

Ephrata attorney Doug Anderson, who was appointed to represent Gonzales Wednesday, said he has not had a chance to review her case fully and could comment little. He said he will most likely request an extension from the June 15 hearing date, and the declination hearing may be delayed

until this fall.

Anderson added that he plans to order psychological testing for Gonzales to be used in her declination hearing.

Highland said she supports the case moving to adult court, though she declined to deliver further reasons why.

"I don't know if I can speak to that with any specifics at this position," she said in an interview. "I don't want to say anything that will be perceived as trying the case in the paper."

If the case remains in juvenile court, Gonzales could serve time in a juvenile facility until her 21st birthday, if convicted. Her trial would be held before a judge as a juvenile.

If Gonzales is tried as an adult, she would face between 10 and 18 years, if convicted. Also, in adult court, Gonzales would have the option of a jury trial.

In Grant County's most recent notable declination hearing, Superior Court Judge John Antosz ruled that Evan Savoie and Jake Eakin, who were 11 years old when the allegedly stabbed and beat 13-year-old Craig Sorger to death in Ephrata, should be tried as adults.

Antosz' belief that juvenile prison would unlikely be able to rehabilitate the two boys, were they found guilty, was a big factor in his decision.

Both boys have maintained their innocence. Their trials, which are so far scheduled to be held together, are scheduled for Sept. 14.

It is believed that Eakin and Savoie are the youngest two children in Washington state to be tried as adults.