By Scott North
Herald Writer
A 17-year-old Marysville boy is facing an adult manslaughter charge in connection with Wednesday’s fatal shooting of a teen-age friend.
Michael W. Franckowiak was criminally negligent when he pointed a loaded 9mm handgun at Chase Roodzant, 17, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Jim Townsend alleged Monday.
The gun discharged, and Roodzant died from a single gunshot wound to his head.
"The defendant was attempting to perform CPR on the victim when the police officers arrived," Townsend said in Superior Court papers. "The defendant and the victim have been described as best friends."
Franckowiak has not told investigators whether he knew the gun was loaded, and he may not have intended his friend’s death, but under Washington law, a death by an act of criminal negligence is second-degree manslaughter, Townsend said.
Because a firearm was used, the law requires the teen-age shooter to face adult charges and a sentence of more than three years in prison if convicted, the prosecutor added.
If the case had remained in juvenile court, Franckowiak risked a sentence in detention of as little as two days and no more than 10 days, Townsend said.
"A two- to 10-day range is unacceptable," he said.
Franckowiak is the son of an Everett police officer, although his parents are divorced, and his father lives elsewhere in the county. The defendant’s father’s job was not a consideration in determining how the case should be handled, nor did anybody involved in law enforcement seek any special treatment for the teen, Townsend said.
The case is being investigated by Marysville police, assisted by forensic experts from the Washington State Patrol.
Franckowiak is risking adult punishment under the same "get tough" laws that last year sent nearly 90 teen-age offenders from around the state into adult prisons and jails.
The laws were adopted during the mid-1990s in the wake of several well-publicized crimes by teens.
The state Sentencing Guidelines Commission in December recommended the laws be changed to give judges greater discretion in sentencing young offenders who are prosecuted as adults, but not yet hardened thugs. The commission recommended requiring teens convicted of serious crimes to still serve longer terms of confinement than other young offenders, but recommended they be kept out of adult prisons, and given access to treatment. A bill to create the special sentencing alternative died in the Legislature.
Roodzant was shot Wednesday evening and died early Thursday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The teens were visiting a 26-year-old man at the Casita Villa apartment complex in the 6900 block of 47th Avenue NE.
The pair had been drinking beer and using marijuana before the shooting, according to court papers.
The 26-year-old man told police he normally kept his handgun on the top of his refrigerator, and that he was out of the room when the fatal shot was fired.
Forensic experts told prosecutors that evidence indicates the shot was fired from shoulder level.
"There is no evidence presently available that the handgun malfunctioned in any fashion," Townsend added.
A memorial service for Roodzant is scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m. at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, where both teens were students.
You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431 or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.
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