EVERETT, Wash. — His legs in shackles, Brad George kept his head down the entire time he was in a Snohomish County Juvenile Courtroom. He allegedly confessed to murdering 37 -year-old Georgina Latshaw, the woman who was his legal guardian for a decade.
When we met George Saturday, the day after Latshaw's murder, he described her as a loving mother no one would harm. "I don't know who could have done this," he said quietly.
Court documents show this was a far cry from his violent past. According to Child Protective Services, the 16 -year-old suffers from several disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder. He once threatened Latshaw with a knife and had hallucinations of her as "a short clown with a blood filled mouth.'' He also made a clay sculpture of Latshaw with a severed head.
Last year at Bellevue's Overlake Specialty School for troubled youth George punched a wall, kicked a locker, then violently went after a staff member. He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and got six months probation, which ended two weeks ago. Now he is accused of beating Latshaw to death with a dumbbell, washing off her blood, staging the murder scene like it was a burglary, then going to school.
George is being held on $500,000 bail. Prosecutors have until Wednesday to charge him with murder. If they do charge him, he will be automatically tried as an adult.
WARNING, GRAPHIC DETAILS: Probable cause documents in case
KIRO