South Sound News

Man sentenced in murder of 6-year-old Bremerton girl Jenise Wright

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — Gabe Gaeta, the man convicted of raping and murdering 6-year-old Jenise Wright in 2014, was sentenced for his crimes Monday.

Gaeta, who was 17 when he killed Wright, was arrested Aug. 9, 2014, two days after the little girl’s body was found in the woods behind the Steele Creek Mobile Home Park in Bremerton, where she lived. He lived in the same neighborhood as his victim.

Three and a half years after he was charged as an adult, he pleaded guilty to aggravated first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child.

On Monday, he was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.

Jenise was reported missing on Aug. 3, 2014, sparking a massive search by law enforcement and community members.

Several days later, her body was found in a wooded, muddy field with heavy brush off State Route 303.

Court records say Jenise died of blunt-force trauma to the head, and there was evidence she was strangled.

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