DNA evidence on case not thoroughly examined yet, prosecutor says

A one-week continuance has been granted to the prosecutors in the case against Ephrata boys Evan Savoie and Jake Eakin.

Both teenagers, accused of beating and stabbing to death Ephrata boy Craig Sorger on February 15, 2003, were present at superior courtroom 2 in Ephrata, as a judge Ken Jorgensen granted the continuance.

While the defense attorneys were not available for comment, Ed Owens deputy prosecuting attorney said that the reason for the continuance was in order to wait for an exact date for the completion of the examination of the evidence.

"It takes time for the labs to test the DNA," he said, anticipating that while this is not the last petition for a continuance, this most likely would not be the last.

The petition for a one-week continuance and the judge's decision to grant it drew opposite reactions from the families on both sides.

"It's not fair to (Eakin and Savoie,)" said Phyllis LaMear, Jake Eakin's grandmother, who added that the continued postponement make her doubt whether the prosecution indeed has enough to take on the defense

"They keep putting (stuff) off," she said. "Maybe they don't have enough evidence, that is what I think."

Chuck and Lisa Sorger, the parents of the dead boy said that the repeated continuances have not made them lose optimism over the case.

"We knew it was going to be a long process," Lisa said. "We would like it to be over."

Chuck Sorger refuted any notion that there might not be enough evidence. "There is plenty of it," he said.

Eakin and Savoie have been held in the Grant County Juvenile Detention Center. They have both pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to be tried as adults for the murder of Sorger. An adult conviction for first-degree murder carries from 20 to 26 years in prison.