Barry Loukaitis re-sentenced to 189 years in prison

EPHRATA — Alice Fritz looked into the face of the person who shot and killed her son Arnie at Frontier Middle School more than 20 years ago and instead of expressing anger and indignation, told him he has value.

“You have value. I hope that you can experience joy and purpose. I challenge you to do that.” With those words Barry Loukaitis broke down and tears started to stream down his face.

“If people forgive me it’s because they are good. It’s not anything I deserve. It’s not anything I have coming to me,” Loukaitis later said during his re-sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

Loukaitis was 14 in February 1996 when he entered his classroom at Frontier Middle School and shot and killed his classmates Manuel Vela, Arnie Fritz and algebra teacher Leona Caires and shot and wounded classmate Natalie Hintz.

Loukaitis was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 205 years in prison, by Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its Miller v. Alabama decision that it was unconstitutional for juvenile homicide offenders to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole, citing the Eighth Amendment, which relates to the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments. In response, the Washington legislature passed what has been called the “Miller fix,” which stipulates that juveniles who were under the age of 16 when convicted of first-degree aggravated murder must have their sentence reduced down to 25 years with the possibility of parole.

That decision brought Loukaitis, survivors of the shooting, and family members and friends of those who lost their lives back to court on Wednesday for a resentencing hearing.

The state and Loukaitis’ defense previously agreed to resentencing on each of the 21 counts he was previously sentenced on. For his resentencing, the state recommended a total of 60 years of imprisonment for the two counts of first-degree aggravated murder, plus an additional 1,555 months for the remaining counts of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and 16 counts of first-degree kidnapping, bringing the total recommended time of incarceration to 189 years.

The court allowed the family members of the victims and a couple people who were at Frontier on the day of the shooting to speak during the hearing. Manuel Vela’s father, Manuel Vela Sr., stated his son was a loving young man who had the potential to do something great with his life and make his family proud.

“The only consolation we had at the time was that he died instantly. He didn’t suffer. You see he was shot through the heart, the biggest part of his body,” Vela said. “This is a cry for justice. The justice has already been handed down. We don’t want any changes. No further opportunities. We have been handed down a life sentence without the possibility of ever getting our beloved son back.”

When Loukaitis spoke during Wednesday’s hearing he took a few moments to address Vela’s family, stating Manuel was a good person who didn’t deserve what happened to him.

“Your son’s honor is palpable, it’s immediate, it’s right there. And I didn’t see that in your son. And that’s not his fault, that was mine. He was good. He was better than I am. He always will be and you should have him back. You should. I’m sorry.”

The daughter of Leona Caires, Debora Caires-Nelson, said there isn’t a day that goes by in which she doesn’t wish she had more moments to spend with her mother. She said if Loukaitis were to be given a sentence that didn’t keep him in prison for the rest of his life, the lives of the people who died during the tragedy would be diminished and minimized.

“I wish that my children would have known her the way that I did and did not have to learn about her from reading her life story, since she passed too quickly from this earth. I wish that she was still here writing her story for us and her family,” an emotional Caires-Nelson said.

Natalie Hintz, the sole shooting victim to survive, said her childhood was cut short when Loukaitis entered Caires’ classroom. Hintz was shot in her right arm, an injury which doctors initially believed would require an amputation. Doctors were able to save Hintz’s arm, but not without long-lasting side effects. She was forced to endure physical therapy three times a week for four and a half years to regain some of the use of her arm.

“Feb. 2 was the day Barry sentenced me to a life without the use of my right hand. It was the day he sentenced me to constant hurt, pain and fear. That is my sentence that cannot be lessened by the regret he may have about what he did or the change of a court’s decision,” Hintz stated. “I have no disdain for the man in front of me today. And I understand no one wants to be defined by a single moment, especially when that moment was so horrific.”

“However, I define a person by a single moment, because it is with a single moment that decisions are made and lives changed. And it is in this moment that I still choose to forgive Barry for the crime he committed against me.”

Jon Lane, the teacher who was able to subdue Loukaitis on the day of the shooting and allow the students who were being held hostage to escape, asked Loukaitis a question that has haunted the community for over 20 years; why?

“The short answer is that I was afraid, I was angry and I was jealous. That’s not the full explanation, but I was in a situation where I was going through the same things that every other kid did and I didn’t see it. I didn’t know that everyone else went through that,” Loukaitis said. “And when I started feeling rejected, instead of reaching out to anyone, or saying something to anyone, I just concealed it and instead of facing my own problems and admitting that there was something wrong with me, I turned that behavior outward toward others.”

Cooper, who came out of retirement to handle the resentencing, followed the state’s recommendation and imposed a 189-year prison term. Loukaitis, who has worked as a teacher's aide while in prison and has obtained a bachelor's degree and will soon be pursuing his master’s degree, agreed in writing to not file an appeal.

“You’re all good people. All of you are good people,” Loukaitis told the family members of the victims and survivors. “And hell is knowing that you have done something to good people and that you can never make it right.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.