Charges refiled in Des Moines murders
King County prosecutors have refiled aggravated first-degree murder charges against a man accused in a 2001 quadruple killing, two years after the charges were dismissed because of questions about his mental faculties.
Leemah Carneh, 26, would face life in prison if convicted as charged in the deaths of Richard and Leola Larson; their grandson, Taelor Marks; and Taelor’s girlfriend, Josie Peterson. The four were found in the Larsons’ home in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines.
A King County Superior Court judge dismissed the charges in 2005 because experts disagreed on whether Carneh was competent to stand trial. Since then he’s been treated at Western State Hospital, which last month advised that Carneh was doing well enough to become eligible for “unaccompanied grounds privileges,” a finding that prompted prosecutors to refile the charges.