Pruitt's trial set for Jan. 8

EPHRATA - The murder trial for an Othello teen charged in the 2004 shooting death and robbery of an elderly Soap Lake man has been set for Jan. 8, according to the Grant County Prosecutor's Office.

Brandon Pruitt, 18, was charged as a juvenile earlier this year with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, manslaughter, residential burglary and possession of a stolen firearm. Pruitt hasn't entered a plea to the charges, according to records from the Grant County Clerk's Office.

The charges haven't changed and he will be tried as an adult in Grant County Superior Court, said Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Scott.

Pruitt was 14 when Michael Mallon, 79, was killed. Mallon's body was found about seven months after he was discovered missing near his Willow Lakes home in Grant County. Police believe Mallon was killed when he drove up to his remote home while it was being burglarized by Pruitt and his brother, Dustin Abrams.

Abrams, 23, of Moses Lake, was sentenced in March to 24 years in prison for Mallon's murder after entering an Alford plea.

- Staff report