15-year-old takes witness stand in his own defense Wednesday

EPHRATA — Evan Savoie has maintained his innocence for more than three years against a charge of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his 13-year-old friend Craig Sorger on Feb. 15, 2003, at Ephrata's Oasis Park.

That didn't change Wednesday in Grant County Superior Court when Savoie, 15, took the stand in his own defense, testifying for more than two hours.

Arrested while in sixth grade, Savoie is being tried as an adult and faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted.

Savoie's defense attorneys rested their case Wednesday afternoon, following his testimony. Closing arguments began today at 9 a.m.

While playing in a wooded and secluded spot within the park, Sorger fell from a tree and struck his head, Savoie explained in a deep voice.

Sorger "shimmied up" the tree "like a koala bear," near the fort the three boys were building, Savoie testified.

"His left hand went up like he's reaching for something," Savoie said, "he went up, he just fell."

Savoie stepped down from the witness stand and demonstrated for jurors what he saw that day.

After Sorger fell from the tree, Savoie said he was no longer thinking about what to do next. Instead, he described his actions as "mechanical" and "robotic."

"It's like I wasn't in control of myself," Savoie explained.

Savoie said he doesn't know why he left Sorger badly injured and without help in the park.

He told his defense attorney Randy Smith he felt "pretty bad, worse than you know."

Sorger, a special education student, would never have been beaten and stabbed, Savoie predicted, if he had called for help.

"I would not have been here (on trial)," he said. "Everyone's life would have been different."

Throughout the trial, Savoie's defense team has suggested someone else killed Sorger as he lay injured in the park.

Savoie and another boy, Jake Eakin, both 12 years old at the time, didn't run to get help, Savoie admitted under questioning.

But they didn't attack Sorger either, he said.

Savoie claimed he checked Sorger's vital signs, determining his playmate was fading fast or already dead when he and Eakin decided to run back to his family's trailer about a mile away.

"You made a conscious decision that afternoon not to get Craig help?" Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell asked.

Savoie agreed.

"I had ample opportunity, many times," he said.

But Eakin and Savoie did not get help and would lie to police about Sorger's condition, a point repeatedly emphasized by prosecutors.

First, they would tell investigators with the Ephrata Police Department that Sorger was headed home and doing well the last time they saw him. Then, the two boys would tell police Sorger fell from a tree.

"Are you telling us, Evan, that you didn't do anything wrong?" Knodell asked.

Savoie paused before answering that question. Knodell then withdrew the question and asked another.

"So are you striking your other question?" Savoie asked the prosecutor, seeming eager to answer the prosecutor's initial question.

During much of the cross-examination, Knodell focused on inconsistencies in Savoie's story to police investigators.

Knodell asked Savoie about the position of Sorger's body as he fell from the tree, how high the boy had climbed in the tree,and how he was lying when the other two ran from the scene.

The prosecutor also focused on the two different time estimates — separated by five to seven minutes — Savoie gave when estimating how long he spent trying to revive Sorger and check the injured boy for consciousness.

Savoie said he was only guessing about how long he tried to help his injured friend.

The teenager remained composed throughout the veteran prosecutor's questioning.

Knodell insisted that Savoie lied about what happened "so that people would not think you were present when Craig got hurt," Knodell said.

"You did a number of things to make other people think you didn't do anything wrong?" Knodell asked.

Defense attorney Smith emphasized in his questioning that Eakin and Savoie did not try to hide Sorger's body.

Eakin, 15, accepted responsibility for his role in Sorger's murder, pleading guilty to complicity to second-degree murder in April 2005. He testified against Savoie earlier in the trial, placing most of the blame on his former fishing and video game buddy.

Eakin has begun serving the 14-year sentence he received in the plea deal. He is held at a maximum security facility for juveniles in western Washington and will be taken to an adult prison at age 18.

The jury could begin deliberations as early as today.