EVERETT — The man accused of gunning down 15-year-old Molly Conley last year will stand trial for her killing in a few weeks.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne on Friday declined to throw out the first-degree murder charge against Erick Walker.
The Marysville man’s defense attorney had filed a motion to dismiss the charge, saying that there isn’t enough evidence to link his client to the fatal June 1, 2013 drive-by shooting.
Walker, 28, has repeatedly denied shooting anyone or at any homes.
Molly was struck in the neck as she and friends walked along South Lake Stevens Road. Two of the slain girl’s friends told detectives the gunshot came from a passing car. Molly collapsed on the side of the road.
Investigators didn’t find the bullet that killed the Seattle teenager or any casings or genetic evidence linking Walker to the homicide, Everett defense attorney Mark Mestel said.
The prosecutor’s case against his client is based on speculation and not on a rational inference of the evidence, the veteran lawyer said.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Edirin Okoloko said Walker can be directly tied to gunfire at five houses in Lake Stevens and Marysville a few hours after Molly was killed.
State forensic scientists reportedly matched bullets recovered in those shootings with two handguns seized from Walker’s home. There also is evidence that Walker’s car crashed into a parked vehicle near the drive-by shooting scene in Marysville.
Prosecutors believe they have a strong, circumstantial case that Molly’s death and the other drive-by shootings are connected.
By his own accounts, Walker was driving around Lake Stevens at the time of the killing, Okoloko said. Walker told detectives he was the only one in possession of his guns. No casings were found at any of the shooting locations. A lone shot was fired at Molly and single shots were fired at each of the houses, Okoloko said.
Wynne concluded the law doesn’t require him to consider the murder case in isolation.
Witnesses reported that they believe Molly was hit by gunfire coming through the rolled-down passenger-side window of a dark-colored vehicle. Evidence suggests the same thing happened when shots were fired in Marysville. The incidents happened within three hours of each other, Wynne said.
The murder charge is based mostly on circumstantial evidence, the judge said. That type of evidence is sufficient for a jury to decide a case, Wynne said.
The judge also declined the defense’s request to suppress any evidence that was gathered from Walker’s cellphone, bank and phone records. Mestel had argued that the search warrants were overly broad and failed to show a connection between the crimes that were being investigated and the evidence that was searched and seized.
Wynne didn’t agree with Mestel’s criticisms of the search warrants.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin later this month. The trial is expected to last about three weeks.
Prosecutors on Friday filed additional charges against Walker. They tacked on four counts of first-degree assault with a firearm stemming from the gunfire that struck occupied homes in Lake Stevens and Marysville.
Prosecutors say that there were lights on in the houses, an indication that someone was inside. They allege that Walker intended to harm someone by firing into occupied houses.
Walker pleaded not guilty to the new charges.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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