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.
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.
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.
WARNING, GRAPHIC DETAILS: Probable cause documents in case