Teen Sentenced To Life For Murder -- Everett Man Was Beaten, Then Dumped Into River

EVERETT - Calling the death of Blair Nixon Scott "an extremely brutal, cold-blooded murder," Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry yesterday sentenced a 17-year-old homeless boy to life in prison without parole, the sentence required under state guidelines.

On Aug. 2 a jury convicted the boy, Michael Skay, and Steven Eggers, 20, of Arlington of aggravated-first-degree murder. Eggers' sentencing was scheduled for today.

Scott, 27, of Everett, who had served in the Persian Gulf War, was beaten Dec. 16 at a party and dumped into the Skykomish River, where he drowned.

Before the sentencing, letters from Scott's family were read, and his cousin Chad Davis spoke.

"It was a tragic waste," Davis said of Scott's murder. "He was a very kind person; he wanted nothing more than to be friends with everyone. Unfortunately, he chose people like Mr. Skay as friends. . . . Mr. Skay doesn't understand how much damage he has done to the families, not just to mine but to his own."

Skay's attorney, Max Harrison, said he wished the judge had some discretion in sentencing the 17-year-old. Harrison said Eggers had played a more forceful role in the attack. Harrison said he planned to appeal.

Referring to Skay as "someone programmed and intended to end up in a room like this in front of an assemblage like this," Harrison said the boy was 10 years old before he met his father, who had been in prison, and was raised by an alcoholic mother.

"There were times as the years went by when Michael began to live on the streets simply because he had nowhere else to be," Harrison said.

When asked if he had anything to say to the court, Skay declined. Castleberry then sentenced him.

"This was not a murder that was the product of a senseless, momentary assault," the judge said. "Rather, it was a murder that was planned, a murder that occurred even after Blair Scott was bound and completely defenseless."

Castleberry also remarked on the conduct of other teenagers who had attended the drinking party in a Snohomish apartment.

"It was disheartening to this court to see acquaintances of Mr. Skay attending (the trial) with an apparent cavalier attitude," he said.

"Just pray for him, is all I can say," Virginia Carlson of Arlington said of Skay, her grandson, shortly after he was escorted out of the courtroom.