Moses Lake girls heading to juvenile court

EPHRATA - The two Moses Lake girls charged with trying to kill their adoptive mother had their cases moved to juvenile court.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the adult charges against Ashley N. Moyer, 16, and Lily M. Moyer, 17, and move the cases to Grant County Juvenile Court, according to court records. The two were originally charged in February with second degree attempted murder in Grant County Superior Court.

State law requires 16- and 17-year-old juveniles committing serious offenses to be charged as adults.

"Both defendants have been moved to juvenile court based on their lack of criminal history, and lack of criminal sophistication," Prosecutor Angus Lee stated. "They have agreed to plead guilty to the charge of attempted murder and have agreed to the maximum sentence allowed for a juvenile. Their intended victim wanted her adopted daughters held accountable for their actions, but also wanted them to have a chance of some sort of life, rather than being lost in the adult system."

The lead investigator also believed the girls should be prosecuted as juveniles, he stated. The maximum sentence allowed is until the girls are 21 years old.

"In light of all the relevant factors in this case, juvenile prosecution was in the best interest of the state," Lee stated.

  The girls allegedly told police they planned to kill their adopted mother by first putting Ibuprofen and high blood pressure medicine into the woman's tea, and then setting fire to her room when she was asleep, according to a Moses Lake police report. Lily Moyer reportedly took the pills and gave them to her sister.

Ashley Moyer reported to police she put the drugs in the woman's tea the night before the fire, but the victim dumped out the cup before drinking any of it, according to the police report. The girls allegedly stayed with the plan to set fire to the house.

Ashley Moyer allegedly took gasoline from the garage and poured it on the carpet in their mother's bedroom while the woman was taking a shower in an adjoining bathroom. She reportedly used a piece of toilet paper to light the gas and closed the bedroom door, according to the police report. The girls reportedly left the residence, walking to a house about 350 to 400 yards away, past several other residences, before calling the fire department.

The girls allegedly packed clothing into backpacks, and threw them over a fence into a neighboring yard before leaving the residence, according to the police report.

The victim was alerted to the fire when fire alarms went off, and found flames about 5 to 6 inches high, according to the police report. She put out most of the fire using wet towels, before firefighters arrived.

Investigators determined the fire was set intentionally due to the smell of gasoline and the burn pattern on the carpet, according to the police report.

The victim allegedly told police she had problems with the girls stealing and trying to run away in the past, according to the police report. She had caught them stealing a week prior to the fire and had grounded them.

The girls originally said they hadn't intended to kill the woman, but later admitted they planned to kill her.