Adult Penalty for Boys Charged in Playmate's Murder

E P H R A T A, Wash., March 19 -- As two 13-year-old boys get ready to face the possibility of 20 years in jail, their relatives say the sentence would be too harsh for boys who can't understand the complex world of crime and punishment.

Jake Eakin and Evan Savoie, both 13, will likely be tried as adults in the death of a developmentally disabled boy.

Eakin's mother, Tammy Vickery, says she can't believe her son will have to face an adult sentence when he doesn't have the ability to process information on an adult level.

"We do a lot of explaining to him because he is so young and doesn't comprehend," Vickery said. "I have a hard time understanding everything that's going on, so I can't expect him to understand everything that's going on."

Eakin and Savoie were just 12 when investigators say they killed Craig Sorger after playing with him that day. His body was found in a park in the small community of Ephrata, about 100 miles west of Spokane. The 13-year-old special education student had been beaten and stabbed 34 times.

Pam Leseman, Savoie's aunt, says she believes the boys are innocent because they apparently seemed shocked by the photos of Sorger shown in court.

"He [Savoie] told his mom that the boy did not look that way when he left that day. It was totally different from when they left," Leseman said.

A medical examiner said Sorger, who had mental and physical disabilities, had been beaten and repeatedly stabbed so severely the tip of a knife was left in his skull.

Vickery says her son has convinced her that he had nothing to do with the boy's death.

"He has talked to us about what went on over there. What he has explained to me is that he couldn't have done this," Vickery said.

But police say the boys' stories do not match up, and that the victim's blood was found on their clothing. The boys said they got Sorger's blood on their clothes after they checked on the boy after he fell out of a tree.

Meanwhile, Sorger's father said he was relieved when Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz ruled the two suspects should be tried as adults.