EVERETT — A Marysville teen who accidentally shot his friend last month while waving around a handgun is headed to juvenile detention for three months.
The boy, 16, pleaded guilty Monday to assault and illegal gun possession. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair sentenced the teen to 115 days in juvenile lock-up, the maximum under sentencing guidelines.
The boy will get credit for the three weeks he’s been at Denney Juvenile Justice Center. He also will be on community supervision for a year and required to do 104 hours of community service. His driver’s license is expected to be revoked.
The Herald is not naming the boy because he was charged as a juvenile.
A probation officer recommended that the teen get help for substance abuse.
The teen told police he was high on cocaine and dancing around with a .22-caliber handgun when it went off inside a Marysville apartment. His friend, 17, was struck in the neck.
Others in the apartment drove the bleeding teen to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. He later was taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center. Doctors there told police that the bullet lodged in the teen’s spine.
The injured boy attended Monday’s hearing. His mother told police that her son is expected to graduate from high school Wednesday.
The woman told the judge she was OK with the defendant having contact with her son.
The defendant apologized to his friend and the boy’s family Monday.
“It was an easily avoidable situation,” Fair said. “It is very fortunate that your friend is here.”
The suspect hid from police after the shooting. Detectives learned that he was holed up in a home near Cedarcrest Middle School. Marysville SWAT members were called in. They arrested the teen about eight hours after his friend was shot.
Court documents show that the boy has a history of violence and served time behind bars for an unprovoked attack on a 12-year-old last year. The teen was sentenced to up to nine months in juvenile detention for the beating. Before that, in a separate incident, he was convicted of assaulting a security officer at Marysville Getchell High School.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com
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