Teen suspect in lakefront family massacre touched bodies to check if they were still alive: surviving sister
A 15-year-old boy allegedly slaughtered all but one member of his entire family in their Washington state lakeside house last week, and recent court records obtained by Fox News Digital detail his sole surviving sister’s terrifying escape from death.
When deputies arrived at the home in Lake Alice, Washington on Oct. 21, they discovered a “significant crime scene” — the deceased bodies of two adults and three children — and they immediately took the male teen into custody, King County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Mellis said in a media briefing.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims as parents Mark Humiston, 43, and Sarah Humiston, 42, and their children, Benjamin, 13, Joshua, 9, and Katheryn, 7.
While the suspect was named in the obtained documents, a judge on Friday prohibited the media’s release of his identity.
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Shortly before 5 a.m., the suspect called 911, claiming his 13-year-old brother had killed his family. He sounded out of breath and stated, “He just shot my whole family and committed suicide too,” according to the affidavit.
The suspect said he was hiding in the bathroom on the main floor of the house, and said a possible motive for his brother’s crime was that he had been “caught looking at pornography the night before, and that he was about to get in a lot of trouble.”
During the suspect’s 911 call, police received another 911 call from a neighbor who lives about a quarter of a mile from the Humiston house. The neighbor told authorities that the 11-year-old Humiston daughter arrived at their home, incessantly ringing their doorbell, telling them that her family was all dead and her brother was the one who shot her. The neighbor relayed to police that the young girl was injured by a possible gunshot wound and bleeding from the neck and the hand, and she was scared her brother would come and find her.
The surviving child was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. During an interview with police at the hospital, the 11-year-old began to cry as she detailed her harrowing escape.
She said she and her younger sister shared a room and were woken up by the sound of gunshots, and when she looked out the bedroom door to the hallway, she saw her father and brother lying in the hallway with blood on her father’s head and in her brother’s mouth. When her younger sister left their bedroom and entered the hallway, the surviving Humiston victim heard another gunshot and saw her sister fall to the floor.
She then described seeing her brother enter her bedroom and shoot her once or twice, believing she was hit in both her hand and her neck, and she “immediately felt pain.” She saw her brother lean over the three bodies of her family members in the hall, touching them to see if they were alive. When her brother re-entered her bedroom, she “closed her eyes and held her breath and pretended to play dead as he stood next to her bed.”
Once her brother left the room, and she could hear him talking on the phone upstairs, she used a “fire window” in her room to escape and ran to her neighbor’s house.
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She told police she recognized the gun her brother shot her with as her father’s silver Glock handgun, which he kept in a small lockbox that he would sometimes put by the front door so he could bring it to work. She said that out of all the children, her brother was the only one who knew the combination to the lockbox.
When asked what issues her brother had at home, the 11-year-old said he had recently gotten into “a lot of trouble” for failing tests at school. She said her brother was wearing a checkered shirt at the time of the shooting.
The suspect staged the scene prior to the arrival of first responders to make it appear that his brother had committed the murders and then killed himself, according to the affidavit.
A no-contact order between the 15-year-old suspect and his 11-year-old sole surviving sister remains in place.
The sole surviving victim’s maternal grandmother is now her custodial guardian and trustee of the lakeside house, according to court records.
The grandmother originally wanted to have the house cleaned, when she was advised that the longer she waited, the more damage and spoilage the residence would incur, but a judge ruled that all items in the house “shall be preserved, and the premises shall be sealed, locked, and guarded by a King County Sheriff until further order of the Court” after the 15-year-old’s defense petitioned the court to lock down the scene.
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At a hearing on Friday, the teenage suspect’s attorneys filed a motion to preserve their client’s privacy, including prohibiting the publication of their client’s photograph and limiting filming of the proceeding. Judge Kristin Richardson granted the motion in part, prohibiting filming their client from the neck up and prohibiting the publication of their client’s name or photograph showing his face.
“Given the media interest in this case and the seriousness of these charges, we want the court to know that multiple people in the community have reached out to us who know our client, and they have attested to his good character,” the suspect’s attorney Amy Parker said in a statement at Friday’s hearing.
“He has been described by them as kind and caring. This is a boy who has many friends, has pro-social interests, and has been a positive contributor to his community.”
He has no criminal history, and this is the only time a case involving the 15-year-old has been referred to King County prosecutors, Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital.
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The suspect was charged with five counts of first-degree aggravated murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder with a firearm enhancement, all of which have a domestic violence designation, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said. He is being held in secure detention at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center.
The 15-year-old did not enter a plea at Friday’s court hearing pending the judge’s ruling on whether or not it will be moved to adult court.
The case will have a status conference on Jan. 8, 2025, which is where the court will be given an update on the progress of the case.
Attorneys for the teenage suspect did not have any further comment at this time.