Craig Martin Sorger (February 10, 1990 – February 15, 2003) was a developmentally disabled 13-year-old American boy who was murdered by his then 12-year-old friends Evan Drake Savoie (born October 22, 1990) and Jake Lee Eakin (born November 14, 1990) in Ephrata, Washington. During a court hearing, Savoie and Eakin were charged with first and second-degree murder respectively. As part of a plea bargain, Eakin eventually confessed to murdering Sorger and agreed to testify against Savoie. Eakin was sentenced to 14 years in prison and later appealed his conviction unsuccessfully. Savoie was initially sentenced to 26 years in prison, which was reduced to 20 years after an appeal. Savoie eventually also confessed to murdering Sorger at his second trial.
Victim Craig Sorger, of Everett, was a thirteen-year-old seventh grade special education student with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. His family moved to Ephrata when he was 11 years old because he was being bullied. He struggled socially as he was a special education student with a learning disability.
Perpetrators Evan Savoie, of Ephrata, and Jake Eakin, of Moses Lake, were twelve-year-old boys in the sixth grade. Eakin met Savoie when they were two years old, as they are cousins. Jake had one brother and two stepbrothers. Savoie had one stepbrother. Evan was a popular student at school and the class clown, but was known for bullying younger or unpopular kids. He also worked as a delivery boy for the local newspaper. Other kids often bullied Eakin because of his speech disability. He also supposedly has a learning disability, though he denied it.
Murder On the afternoon of February 15, 2003, Savoie and Eakin stopped by the Sorger residence and asked Craig's mother, Lisa, if he could play. According to Craig's brother, Evan and Jake had played with Craig several times before. Craig's mother allowed her son to go with the two boys, but told them Craig could not play for long because he was afraid of the dark. According to Eakin's later testimony, the three boys went to nearby Oasis Park. After playing for a while, Savoie asked Sorger to feel the ground 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 on his neck. Savoie then began to repeatedly stab Sorger in his head, neck, chest and torso with a knife. Eakin testified that he beat Sorger in his head and legs using a tree branch. With Sorger lying motionless on the ground, the two boys went to Savoie's home. As night fell, Sorger's mother searched for him since he did not return home. She visited Savoie's residence and discovered Savoie and Eakin there playing video games together; her son was not present. She then called 911 and went to search the park, where she was joined by Savoie, his parents Holly and Andy Parent, and members of the Ephrata Police Department. A police officer soon discovered Sorger's body in a pile of leaves near a trail, along with the rock and tree branch used in the attack nearby. When police questioned Savoie and Eakin that night, they claimed they climbed trees and played tag until around 4:30 pm, when they saw Sorger head home. They soon changed their stories and told police that they saw Sorger fall from a tree. Police found no evidence that Sorger fell from a tree. The coroner also pointed out stab wounds on the body which were later determined to come from a knife. Sorger's autopsy revealed that in addition to being beaten several times, he was stabbed five times in the chest and torso and at least 34 times in the head and neck. He also had at least 20 blunt force injuries. Savoie and Eakin were arrested on February 18, 2003 and were held in Grant County Youth Services Detention Center. Authorities found a note written by Savoie in which he planned to kill someone else after Sorger. Authorities also found a journal named "Sniper" written by Eakin, in which he idolized and supported the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks. The knife used in the attack was found in a nearby river one year later.
Trials Although Savoie and Eakin both claimed innocence, they were charged with first and second-degree murder respectively and tried as adults by Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz. In February 2005, The Washington Supreme Court upheld the decision to try the boys as adults by declining to hear the case. At twelve-years-old they became the youngest murder defendants tried as adults in Washington since 1931, and the youngest overall. Eakin finally confessed to his role in the killing in 2005 after spending two years in jail awaiting trial. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder by complicity and agreed to testify 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 a sentence of eight years. Several members of Eakin's family, including his parents, Christopher and Tammy, cried and gasped as the verdict was read. On April 29, 2006, Savoie was convicted of first-degree murder. On July 8, 2006, he was sentenced to over 26 years in prison, the maximum sentence for a first-time offender. His lawyer stated that the likelihood that his rehabilitation would be more effective after 26 years than 20 was ridiculous. Grant County Superior Court Judge Kenneth L. Jorgensen, however, disagreed, ruling that Savoie's punishment must match his crime. Savoie's mother later complained about the trial's verdict, claiming that her son was "innocent" and that "the killer is still out there". She also called the judge "biased". In 2007, Eakin appealed his sentence unsuccessfully. In 2011, Savoie's conviction was overturned on appeal based on the judge's closure of parts of the trial to the public and his appointment of a lawyer for the victim's family who intervened in the trial. Despite initially pleading not guilty in 2011, Savoie later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2013, and finally confessed to murdering Sorger after ten years. On March 25, 2014, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Superior Court Judge John Hotchkiss.
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