The 16-year-old driver charged with murder in the death of Kent police officer Diego Moreno appeared in court Thursday. Emiliano Garcia is charged as an adult.
Prosecutors filed a second-degree felony murder charge against Garcia for driving the pickup truck involved in the chase that led to the death of Officer Moreno.
"The defendant's reckless actions and willful disregard for the safety of others, including his own friends, innocent bystanders and police officers, directly caused the death of one officer and significant injury to another," said Jessica Berliner, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County.
Garcia's attorneys successfully argued that their client's face should not be shown by news media attending the hearing, because of Garcia's age. They also said the issue of his identity may be the subject of litigation in the future, because police did not arrest Garcia at the scene of the crime.
Officer Moreno was accidentally struck by a patrol car in pursuit of the suspects in the early morning hours of July 22. Moreno was laying spike strips to stop the suspect truck when he was hit.
The spike strips flattened the tires on the suspect vehicle, a red Dodge Dakota. The truck eventually crashed and rolled over. Three suspects fled on foot, and officers used a canine to track the suspects.
Garcia's attorney, Bradley Barshis, tried to argue his client was not responsible for Moreno's death.
"My client was down the road, a ways, before Officer Williams came down the hill and struck Officer Moreno," Barshis told the court. "There is nothing indicating that [Garcia] was in fact the reason this death occurred.
"I think it's analogous to if an officer gets called out to a felony and an officer careens out of a parking lot and is struck by another truck, and unfortunately dies, the person who committed the felony that the officer is responded to is not going to be charged with felony murder," Barshis said.
Moreno was an eight-year veteran of the Kent Police Department. He is survived by his wife and two young children.
Kent Police say donations to the family can also be made at any U.S. Bank location.
