An 11-year-old girl is believed to be the only survivor of a mass murder in which a family of five, including three young children, were found shot to death inside a mansion in Washington state on Monday, local reports said. .
A 15-year-old boy is in jail after police found the bullet-riddled bodies of two adults and three teenagers inside his family's $2 million cabin in Fall City around 5 a.m. , during a disturbing massacre in which the sixth victim, a girl, was shot twice.
Prosecutors on Tuesday asked the court to indict the boy, who has not been identified, on five counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
Judge Joe Campagna called the charges “the most serious possible” and ordered the murder suspect to remain in secure juvenile detention pending formal charges. The Seattle Times reported.
Campagna also banned contact with the 11-year-old girl, the only immediate family member who survived the attack, the newspaper reported.
The boy, who waived his right to an initial appearance in King County Superior Court, was a boy who “hobbies mountain biking and fishing,” according to defense attorney Amy Parker.
She also claimed her client had no criminal history.
Authorities have not released the identities or ages of the victims, but neighbors told FOX 13 the children were teenagers, with the oldest believed to be about 15 years old.
King County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mike Mellis said deputies responded to a home on Lake Alice Road (a picturesque When they arrived at the waterfront property, they found a family of five shot to death.
At least some of the 911 calls that alerted officers to the shooting came from victims who were inside the home and hiding in the bathroom. Kilo7 reported.
Officers quickly arrested the boy who was inside the home, Melis said, and the surviving boy received medical assistance from a neighbor after the shooting and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
As of Tuesday, the King County Coroner's Office had not released the identity of the murder victim.
Prosecutors filed formal charges on Thursday, and arraignment is scheduled for Friday.
