Mount Vernon 13-year-old held in death of sister

MOUNT VERNON – A 13-year-old boy was being held in the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister, who was found dead in the family home, police said Thursday.

The boy, whose name was not released, called 911 Wednesday saying his sister needed help. Paramedics found the girl dead inside the home in Mount Vernon.

The girl was identified as Samantha Rickards, police Lt. Jerry Dodd told the Skagit Valley Herald.

The boy was being held on $500,000 bail at the Skagit County Juvenile Detention Center.

The girl was stabbed multiple times with a knife, Dodd said. Investigators do not have a motive in the killing, which Dodd said was the first in Mount Vernon in three years.

Prosecutors have until Monday to decide whether the boy will be charged, Skagit County prosecutor Tom Verge said.

Seattle

Nickels is it: King County Council member Greg Nickels has been elected Seattle mayor. A source in city attorney Mark Sidran’s campaign told The Associated Press that Sidran conceded defeat Thursday in a phone call to Nickels. Nickels extended his lead in the mayor’s race again Thursday as elections officials released a count of nearly 6,500 absentee ballots. Nickels’ lead over Sidran jumped from 2,287 votes to 2,726. In all, Nickels has pulled 79,464, or 50.9 percent, to Sidran’s 76,738, or 49.1 percent. With only about 10,000 left to count and the trend with late absentees favoring Nickels, the amount could prove tough for Sidran to overcome. He would have to win 64 percent of the remaining ballots.

Times, guild pay up: The Seattle Times and the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild said Thursday they have settled all disputes but one relating to a strike at the newspaper a year ago. The Times has agreed to pay $125,000 to settle accusations that it violated the deal that ended the strike by giving promotions to workers who crossed picket lines. The guild, meanwhile, will pay $50,000, and The Times will drop a lawsuit that accused the guild of violating the same deal by refusing to promote the newspaper. The heart of the dispute was the definition of “replacements” under the agreement that ended the seven-week strike last January. The agreement called for all replacements to be moved out of jobs previously held by union workers. New hires were moved, but some workers who crossed picket lines were given promotions or transfers. The union complained, saying that once the strike was over, The Times should have rescinded those promotions and given the positions to union workers.

Guilty plea for stolen police car: An 18-year-old man pleaded guilty to stealing a police car, which authorities say led to a chase in which three officers mistakenly fired at one another. Zachary Davis of Shoreline also pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to elude police in July. In exchange for the plea, King County prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 240 hours of community service, two years of community supervision, a mental evaluation and suspension of his driver’s license. Police say Davis was arrested July 10 after stealing the keys to a patrol car at the department’s North Precinct. He hit a parked car and sped away from other officers several times with the car’s lights and sirens on, police say. Two officers followed his patrol car, then lost it. They thought they found it again, rammed the patrol car and exchanged 33 shots with what turned out to be a third officer, investigators said. No one was hit by the shots.

Tacoma

Rape, murder conviction: A man has been convicted of killing a woman he raped and robbed after she gave one of his friends a ride to his house. Ray Saunders, 68, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery in his second trial stemming from the death of Marcia Ann Carlson-Grissett. Carlson-Grissett, 48, was attacked after she gave Leanna Bessie Williams, whom she did not know, a ride to Saunders’ house because Williams’ car had broken down on March 1, 2000. Saunders, a drinking companion of Williams, wanted to watch the two women have sex and Carlson-Grissett was attacked when she refused, prosecutors said. Investigators determined that she had been beaten, shackled, raped with a television antenna, stabbed and strangled. Williams, 37, was convicted and sentenced earlier this year to more than 101 years in prison. Prosecutors said Williams admitted stabbing the other woman.

Oregon

Charge for shooting dog: A 35-year-old Medford man was charged with animal abuse after he allegedly shot and killed a friend’s dog after the animal urinated in his bedroom. Lawrence Lee Elmore shot the dog early Tuesday, after returning home from a local bar, police said. He allegedly put a 20-gauge shotgun to the dog’s head and fired. Elmore pleaded innocent in Jackson County Court on Thursday. He was being held on $50,000 bail. When police arrested Elmore, they seized the shotgun, four small-caliber rifles, a small-caliber revolver and derringer from the residence. Elmore is not allowed to possess firearms under conditions of a stalking protection order granted to a former girlfriend in April.

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