Teen Faces King Co. Trial In Moses Lake Slayings

EPHRATA - The murder-kidnapping trial of Barry Loukaitis will be held in King County, a judge ruled yesterday.

Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper of Ellensburg granted the change of venue after Loukaitis' attorney, Michael Frost, argued that a recent murder-suicide involving another Moses Lake teenager made the prospect of finding an impartial Grant County jury unlikely.

Loukaitis, 15, is charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder, 16 counts of first-degree kidnapping, and single counts of attempted first-degree murder and second-degree assault stemming from the Feb. 2 shootings in a Moses Lake junior-high-school classroom.

Loukaitis has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Cooper also said the trial, scheduled to begin in February, prob- ably will be delayed until April or May.