85-year-old woman charged with shooting roommates pleads not guilty

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — An 85-year-old woman accused of shooting her two roommates pleaded not guilty in front of a King County judge Tuesday morning.

Beverly Jenne was charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors allege Jenne fatally shot her roommate 32-year-old Janet Oyuga and also shot and seriously wounded Oyuga's sister Angela Atieno.

>> See previous coverage: 85-year-old woman charged with murder in death of roommate

Documents from police say Jenne’s house was foreclosed on and bought by someone else, and the sisters moved in.

Atieno told detectives the sisters let Jenne stay until she had somewhere else to live. Police found a note Jenne supposedly wrote, saying she had nowhere to go and believed the sisters were about to evict her.

A week later, the home in question burned down in a fire. The cause is still under investigation.

Jenne’s attorney provided KIRO 7 with a statement that asked for an investigation on how the home burnt down. It read in part,"... a short charging document put together by the police and the prosecution is not the whole story."

Jenne is being held on a $1 million bond and is due back in court in several weeks.

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