Court rejects teen's appeal of sentence

Eakin continues prison stay for Ephrata slaying

SPOKANE (AP) — A state appeals court on Thursday denied a teenager's appeal of his prison sentence for his role in the 2003 slaying of a playmate.

In a deal with prosecutors, Jake Eakin, now 16, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder by complicity in the Feb. 15, 2003, slaying of Craig Sorger. Sorger, 13, was found beaten and stabbed 34 times in an Ephrata recreational vehicle park.

Grant County Superior Court Judge Ken Jorgensen sentenced Eakin to 14 years in prison. Eakin appealed the sentence, arguing that Jorgensen should have recused himself from the case and that Jorgensen should have imposed a lesser sentence.

A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals in Spokane disagreed.

"As long as the court has considered all the facts and has concluded that an exceptional sentence downward is factually or legally unsupportable, the defendant may not appeal its ruling," the panel said.

Days after the slaying, authorities charged Eakin and another youngster, Evan Savoie, with first-degree murder. Just 12 years old at the time, they were among the youngest murder defendants to be charged as adults in Washington.

Eakin later changed his story and agreed to testify against Savoie as part of a plea deal.

Jorgensen also handled Savoie's case, sentencing him to the maximum 26 years in prison after a jury last year convicted him of first-degree murder. He has appealed.

Both Eakin and Savoie are imprisoned at Green Hill School in Chehalis.