Jake Eakin admitted guilt

EPHRATA — Jake Eakin, 14, admitted guilt to his involvement in the murder of Craig Sorger in the Grant County Courthouse Thursday morning.

Thirteen-year-old Sorger was stabbed and beaten to death on Feb. 15, 2003 in Ephrata. Eakin and Evan Savoie were the last to be seen with Sorger, and had invited him to go play in the park the afternoon of his death.

Eakin and Savoie were 12-years-old when Sorger was murdered and had previously denied committing the crime.

Eakin pleaded second-degree murder by complicity with the help of his attorney Michelle Marie Shaw. Attorney from both sides recommended an eight-year sentence, but Judge Ken Jorgensen sentenced Eakin to 123 to 220 months.

A sentence of eight years would have required mitigating circumstances, but Jorgensen did not feel there were reasons to go below the mid-range of sentencing for Eakin's involvement.

Shaw said Eakin admitted his involvement in the crime, but said that Savoie committed the murder.

They were charged with first-degree murder in Sorger's death. Superior Court Judge John Antosz ruled following an eight-day declination hearing last year that the two could be tried as adults, a ruling that was upheld in February when the State Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Both boys had previously pleaded not guilty, and were scheduled to stand trial together in the next few weeks. Now 14, they have been incarcerated in the Grant County Juvenile Detention Center since their arrest in 2003.