OAK HARBOR – Prosecutors filed a second-degree murder charge Wednesday against an Oak Harbor High School senior accused of killing his 15-year-old girlfriend.
James L. Sanders, 18, was arrested Friday shortly before the body of Elaine Sepulveda was discovered in the back yard of Sanders’ grandfather’s house.
Island County prosecutor Greg Banks said Sanders murdered Elaine on Nov. 6 because he believed she was pregnant with his child.
“It is a great relief to the citizens of Island County that someone is in custody for the murder of (Elaine). Our hearts go out to her family, who have suffered the ultimate pain any family could ever know,” Banks said in a statement Wednesday.
The prosecutor said he will ask for extra prison time because Sanders tried to conceal the crime by hiding Elaine’s body in a compost pile and has “shown an egregious lack of remorse.”
Banks also said an exceptional sentence is warranted because Sanders believed the girl was pregnant.
The standard sentencing range if convicted is about 10 to 18 years. Sanders could face more time if a judge finds aggravating factors.
Island County Coroner Robert Bishop hasn’t confirmed the pregnancy and is waiting on more tests to determine the cause of death.
Police suspected Sanders early in the investigation after his mother reported finding a bag of Elaine’s clothes in his room Nov. 7, a day after the girl was reported missing. Tests revealed there was blood on Elaine’s sweat shirt.
Sanders told police he found the clothing in the middle of the road and denied knowing what happened to her, according to court documents.
Elaine’s family and friends insisted that she hadn’t run away and spent more than two months searching for her. Investigators and volunteers combed the woods around her house and the beaches in Oak Harbor. Federal agents interviewed family members in Texas.
A break in the case came after two experts in searching for missing children asked to look at the grandfather’s property, just a few blocks from Elaine’s house.
The grandfather called police early Friday and told officers his grandson had admitted to accidentally killing the girl and burying her, court documents say.
Sanders told his grandfather he was trying to prevent Elaine from killing herself when he accidentally knocked her to the ground, causing a head injury, court papers say.
Banks filed second-degree murder charges on the grounds that Sanders intended to kill Elaine, or murdered her while committing second-degree assault.
Sanders is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 28.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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