| Murder of Craig Sorger | |
| Location: | Ephrata, Washington, U.S. |
| Type: | Murder by beating and stabbing |
| Weapons: | A rock, knife and a tree branch |
| Victim: | Craig Martin Sorger |
| Perpetrators: | Evan Drake Savoie Jake Lee Eakin |
| Verdict: | Guilty |
| Convictions: | First-degree murder |
| Motive: | Thrill killing |
| Judge: | Kenneth L. Jorgensen |
Craig Martin Sorger (February 10, 1990 — February 15, 2003) was a 13-year-old American teenager who was murdered by his then 12-year-old tweenage friends and classmates Evan Drake Savoie (born October or November 1990) and Jake Lee Eakin (born November 14, 1990) in Ephrata, Washington. Sorger had been invited by Savoie and Eakin to play in a park near his home. There, Savoie dropped a large rock on Sorger's neck, knocking him to the ground. He then repeatedly beat and stabbed him in his chest and torso with his fists and a knife. Eakin joined in the attack, beating Sorger's head and legs with a tree branch.
Savoie and Eakin were both charged with first-degree murder, despite claiming their innocence. They were tried as adults,[1] becoming the youngest murder defendants tried as adults in Washington state history. Eakin eventually confessed as part of a plea bargain and agreed to testify against Savoie. Eakin was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Savoie was initially sentenced to 26 years in prison, which was reduced to 20 years after an appeal. Savoie also confessed to murdering Sorger at his second trial.
Craig Sorger, of Everett, was an developmentally disabled teenager with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,[2] and a special education student from Ephrata, Washington, a small town of around 6,000 people at the time. He was thirteen years old at the time of his murder. Sorger's family had moved to Ephrata two years before when he was 11 because he was being bullied. He struggled socially as he was a special education student with a learning disability.[3] Sorger was known to be vulnerable and was diagnosed with autism[4] when he was 2 years old.
On the afternoon of February 15, 2003, two twelve-year-old tweenagers—Evan Savoie, of Ephrata, and Jake Eakin, of Moses Lake—stopped by the Sorger residence and asked Craig's mother, Lisa, if he could play with them. According to Craig's brother, Evan and Jake had played with Craig several times in the past. Eakin's family had moved to Ephrata nine years before and he met Savoie when they were both 2, and became best friends since. Jake had one brother and two stepbrothers. Savoie was a popular student at school and the class clown. However, he was known for bullying and picking on kids younger and more unpopular than him. Eakin was often picked on because of his speech disability by other kids.[5] Craig's mother allowed her son to go with the two boys, but told them that Craig could not play for long, because he was afraid of the dark.[6]
According to Eakin's later testimony, the three boys went to Oasis Park, a nearby park. After playing for a while, Savoie asked Sorger to feel the ground in order to see if it was wet. He instructed Sorger to touch the ground and count to ten. While Sorger was on his knees, Savoie dropped a rock "the size of a basketball" on his neck.[7] Savoie then began to repeatedly beat and stab Sorger in his chest and torso with his fists and a knife. Eakin testified that he himself also beat Sorger in his head and legs using a fallen tree branch. With Sorger laying motionless on the ground, the two boys went to Savoie's home.[7]
As night fell, Sorger's mother began searching for Craig as he had not returned quickly as she had instructed. While searching, she visited Savoie's residence, where she found out that Savoie and Eakin had already returned home and were playing video games together, although Sorger was no longer with them. She then called 911 and went to search the park, where she was joined by Savoie, his mother, Holly Parent, his stepfather, Andy Parent, and members of the Ephrata Police Department.[6] A police officer soon discovered Sorger's dead body in a pile of leaves near a trail in the park.[8]
When police questioned Savoie and Eakin that night, they claimed they had been climbing trees and playing tag in the park until around 4:30 pm, when they saw Sorger head home. They soon changed their stories and told police that they had seen Sorger fall from a tree.[8]
Police found no evidence that Sorger had fallen from a tree. The coroner also pointed out stab wounds on the body, which was later revealed to have been caused by a knife. Sorger's autopsy revealed that in addition to being beaten several times, he had also been stabbed 5 times in the chest and torso and at least 34 times in the head and neck.[9] He also had 20 bluntal force injuries.
Savoie and Eakin were later arrested on February 18, 2003. They were held in Grant County Youth Services Detention Center. Authorities also found a journal named "Sniper", which was written by Eakin, and where he idolised and supported the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks. The knife used in the attack was found thrown at a nearby river one year later.[10]
Although Savoie and Eakin both claimed innocence, they were charged with first-degree murder and tried as adults. In February 2005, The Washington Supreme Court upheld the decision to try the boys as adults by declining to hear the case.[11] At twelve-years-old, they became the youngest murder defendants tried as adults in the state since 1931, and the youngest overall.[12] Eakin confessed to his role in the killing in 2005, after spending 26 months in jail awaiting trial.[13] He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder by complicity and agreed to testify as a witness against Savoie. Prosecutors agreed to request a relatively light sentence of eight years in prison in exchange for the guilty plea.
On April 28, 2005, Eakin was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to over 14 years in prison. Grant County Superior Court Judge Kenneth L. Jorgensen ruled that there were no mitigating factors to allow for such a sentence of 8 years. Several members of Eakin's family, including his stepfather, Christopher, and mother, Tammy, cried and gasped as the verdict was read.[14]
On April 29, 2006, Savoie was convicted of first-degree murder.[15] On July 8, 2006, he was sentenced to over 26 years in prison, the maximum sentence that could be imposed.[16] His lawyer stated that the likelihood that his rehabilitation would be any more effective after 26 years than after 20 years was ridiculous. Grant County Superior Court Judge Kenneth L. Jorgensen, however, disagreed, ruling that Savoie's punishment must match his crime.[17] Savoie's mother later complained about the trial's verdict, claiming that her son was "innocent". She also called the judge "biased".[18] In 2011, Savoie's conviction was overturned on appeal based on the judge's closure of parts of the trial to the public and him having appointed a lawyer for the victim's family who intervened in the trial. Despite initially pleading not guilty in 2011,[19] Savoie later ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 2013, and finally confessed to murdering Sorger after 128 months.[20] On March 25, 2014, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Superior Court Judge John Hotchkiss.[21]
Eakin and Savoie remained incarcerated at Green Hill Training School until their 18th birthdays, when they were sent to separate adult prisons.[22]
On June 12, 2016, Eakin escaped from work release while serving the final months of his sentence at Ahtanum View Work Release Center.[23] He was recaptured by U.S. Marshals two days later in Rapid City, South Dakota. He was returned to custody and his sentence was extended due to his escape attempt.[24]
Eakin remained incarcerated at Washington Corrections Center for the rest of his sentence.[25] Eakin was released in February 2017 and is now an anti-abortion activist[26] in Greenville, South Carolina[27] with a wife and two daughters. He has also apologized to Sorger in a interview. However, he was arrested two times after his release: One in 2018 for trespassing[28] and another one in 2022 for larceny.
Savoie was incarcerated in the Airway Heights Corrections Center,[29] [30] and was released in February 2023.