A killer at 12: Evan Savoie sentenced to 20 years in jail more than a decade after murdering a teenage boy in a Washington State park
- Evan Savoie, 23, is now in jail for the murder of Craig Sorger, 13, in 2003
- A previous trial found him guilty but the conviction was overturned on appeal
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A killer at the age of 12, the now 23-year-old Evan Savoie has been sentenced in Ephrata, Washington to 20 years in prison.
Savoie pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder in the 2003 slaying of 13-year-old Craig Sorger in Oasis Park in Ephrata. He was sentenced Tuesday.
A jury initially found Savoie guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to 26 years in prison. That conviction was overturned on appeal.
Tried as an adult: Evan Savoie, pictured in 2006, was convicted of first-degree murder for a second time and sentenced to 20 years in jail
Beaten and stabbed 34 times: Craig Sorger's murder stunned the town of Ephrata in Washington state
Another 12-year-old who took part in the killing, Jake Eakin, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2005 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Savoi and Eakin were playing in Oasis Park and invited Sorger to play. He was beaten with a rock and stabbed to death.
Hhis mother reported him missing when he didn't return home. Police found his body in a mix of brush and leaves.
A medical examiner determined he had been beaten and stabbed 34 times.
Police said there were discrepancies in the playmates' stories and blood on their clothing.
They proclaimed their innocence for two years, even appearing on national television, but Eakin ultimately led police to the murder weapon - a knife that matched the missing tip - and agreed to testify against Savoie in a plea deal.
Prosecutors tried Savoie as an adult, one of the youngest such defendants in state history, and a jury convicted him of first-degree murder.
The case ultimately cost the county and the state, which pitched in to help pay for the high-profile trial, more than $1 million.
Evidence: Jake Eakin testifies at the original trial in April 2006 that Savoie was the killer
Through it all, the three boys' families ran into each other at the gas station and in grocery stores, and residents picked sides of the arguments.
Defense attorneys alleged family members might have killed Sorger, a special education student who struggled socially, sparking outrage from his parents.
Prosecutors doggedly pursued the case for three years amid national media attention and fighting between three families, until a jury convicted one boy and a judge sentenced him to 26 years.
Ephrata, population 7,700, sits about 125 miles east of Seattle surrounded by developed farm land.
Residents endured a tough year in 2003 with a police shooting, a toddler's death following repeated abuse and the drowning of an 11-year-old boy in the city pool.
Hundreds of people in the nearby town of Entiat signed a Christmas card to boost the community's spirits.
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