Boy, 13, Charged With First-Degree Murder -- He'll Stand Trial As An Adult In Shooting

Thirteen-year-old Willard Jimerson Jr. will be one of the youngest people in state history to be tried as an adult on a charge of first-degree murder.

King County Juvenile Court Judge Marsha Pechman, citing the seriousness of the crime, yesterday ordered the boy tried in Superior Court. He was charged this morning in that court.

Jimerson is accused of shooting 14-year-old Jamie Lynn Wilson once as she lay on the ground near Garfield High School March 11.

Jimerson's co-defendant, Kaai J. Williams, 24, is set to go to trial on a second-degree murder charge next week, and prosecutors say they will seek to combine the trials.

According to the charges, Wilson was chased and beaten by a large group of youths in the 400 block of 23rd Avenue shortly after midnight. Authorities do not know why she was being beaten. Then, as she lay on the ground, Jimerson produced a gun and fired. Williams allegedly grabbed the gun, said, "Rest in peace," and shot Wilson two more times.

Wilson, who had argued with a member of the group days earlier over a telephone, was shot for no apparent reason, according to senior deputy prosecutor Craig Peterson.

Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said Jimerson has already built up a criminal history in juvenile court.

If Jimerson were to be tried and convicted in juvenile court, he would have faced a maximum sentence of eight years in juvenile detention. If convicted as an adult in Superior Court, he faces a standard prison term of about 25 years. The sentencing judge could decide that he spend some of that time in juvenile detention.