An Everett man Thursday admitted he entered a south Everett apartment Aug. 15 and abducted a 5-year-old girl, whose screams led to her quick release.
Brent Walter Lee-Fendall, 20, pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court to first-degree kidnapping. He will face about five years in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 8 in Judge George Bowden’s courtroom.
Deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson said he will recommend the five-year term for Lee-Fendall, who has no previous criminal convictions. That’s in the middle of the sentencing range under state law.
Public defender Marybeth Dingledy, Lee-Fendall’s attorney, said he panicked when he encountered the girl in the apartment during an attempted burglary and meant her no harm.
The child’s screams just before 5 a.m. alerted her parents, who at first thought that she was having a nightmare. Then her mother realized the cries for help were coming from outside the apartment in the 800 block of 112th Street SW, court documents said.
She looked out the window and saw someone carrying her daughter. The mother jumped through an open window and gave chase.
The mother began shouting obscenities at the man, hoping it would cause him to release the girl, court documents said. As she gained ground on him, the intruder dropped the girl and ran away. The girl suffered a bloody nose.
A deputy sheriff questioned Lee-Fendall, who lived in the same apartment complex, after noticing that he was acting suspiciously, documents said.
Although terrified, the girl identified Lee-Fendall as the man who had abducted her.
Lee-Fendall later told police he entered the apartment to steal valuables, entering through an unlocked sliding door. When he was at the child’s bedroom door, he was about to go inside when the girl opened it, documents said.
The man said he was afraid of being caught in someone’s apartment, so he grabbed the girl and ran. He told police he let her go because he didn’t want to be charged with kidnapping.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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