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11/02/2024 01:23:35 pm

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Washington Teen Held On $1M Bail Pending Adult Charges Of Murder, Rape Of A Child

Jenise Wright

(Photo : AP) Jenise Wright

A 17-year-old boy is now held on US$1 million bail after a federal judge found probable cause on Monday regarding the suspect's involvement in the case of six-year-old Washington girl, Jenise Paulette Wright.

A bail of US$1 million was set for the Gabriel Zebediah Gaeta after investigators found enough proof to hold him for adult charges on suspicion of first degree murder with several aggravating circumstances and first degree rape of a child.

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The six-year-old victim had been missing for five days since August 2 before her lifeless body was found on Thursday submerged in four feet beneath muddy waters covered by a small wood pallet in a thickly wooded area.

The teen's DNA matched evidence found in on the victim's bloody clothing, which then tied him to the crime. Police reports also indicate that Gaeta had 'clearly nodded yes' after he was asked if he was the only involved in Jenise's murder.

Murder allegations included aggravating circumstances, such as his attempt to conceal the commission of the crime and motive for sexual assault.

Autopsy reports show that Jenise received blunt force trauma to the head. In addition, proofs of sexual assault and asphyxiation were found.

Prosecutors filed the necessary documents to charge Gaeta for the murder and rape of the six-year-old child on Monday afternoon.

Judge Hull also granted permission to prosecutors for the teen-aged suspect to undergo mental health checkup. Another hearing on the Jenise Wright case is scheduled on August 28.

Meanwhile, grieving parents were in juvenile court on Monday to take back their two other children who were taken by social services after Jenise went missing.

Gaeta is a student at Olympic High School and had been a trusted Wright family friend after Jenise's dad took him under his wing.

"I was trying to teach him to be responsible to his community - even when we leave home, we are responsible as men," James Wright, Jenise's father, told NBC News.

Wright stated that such devastating incident would be hard to forgive and had expressed disappointment that someone very close to their family could do such a heinous crime especially to his daughter.

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