A 15-year-old girl intentionally drove into a man jogging outside Seattle in July, killing him, and then laughed about it later with friends, according to police.
Cops investigating the death of Greg Moore, 53, had made marginal progress until the girl’s father took her to a Seattle police station and turned her in on Sept. 9, the Seattle Times reported.
Police said the teenager stole her godmother’s 2004 Toyota Camry on July 18 and took a joyride around the Seattle area with a 14-year-old passenger, according to the Times.
Cops said the girl was speeding through Maple Valley, about 20 minutes south of downtown, and spotted Moore jogging, according to the Kent Reporter. “I’m going to scare him, I’m going to bump him,” the girl told the passenger, who relayed that quote to investigators.
That “bump” sent Moore flying over the vehicle, and the crash fractured his skull, the Times reported. Moore’s body was found in a ditch later that morning. The girl behind the wheel later told her friends about the crash and laughed about it, according to police.
The 15-year-old was charged with second-degree murder and one count of hit-and-run in juvenile court, according to local NBC affiliate KING. She pleaded not guilty Wednesday.
Because the girl was charged as a juvenile, she’ll be eligible for release at age 21 even if she is convicted. King County prosecutors said her lack of criminal record made trying the case in adult court impractical, KING reported.
Moore’s widow, Michelle, told the station that she felt a juvenile sentence wasn’t enough and that the teen was “getting away” with murder if she only served the maximum six years.
