PORT TOWNSEND — A Jefferson County Superior Court judge set bail at $500,000 on Tuesday for one of five men held in connection with the stabbing last week of a 26-year-old man at a Port Townsend apartment complex.
During an initial appearance Tuesday morning, the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office accused 19-year-old Ryan Baker of Poulsbo with first-degree assault in connection with the stabbing last Thursday at Hancock Street Apartments.
First-degree assault carries a maximum life prison term and/or a $50,000 fine.
Judge Craddock Verser set an 8:30 a.m. Friday arraignment for Baker in connection with the stabbing of Tomas Hezina, a transient most recently living in Port Townsend.
Condition upgraded
Hezina’s condition was upgraded Tuesday to serious after he spent four days in critical condition in Harborview Medical Center’s intensive care unit in Seattle.
He underwent a second surgery over the weekend for five stab wounds to the neck and upper chest, authorities said.
Because of Baker’s criminal history — which includes a methamphetamine possession charge in Jefferson County Superior Court — Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Shane Seaman requested the $500,000 bail.
Baker and four others appeared by courtroom video Tuesday from Jefferson County jail in Port Hadlock.
The four others charged with first-degree assault, directly or as accomplices, are Ryan Hausenfluck, 19, of Marysville; Kellee Farfan, 20, of Port Townsend; James Hansen, 18, of Port Townsend; and Camron Jevne, 19, of Port Townsend.
Verser set Hansen’s bail at $125,000, while bail for Hausenfluck, Farfan and Jevne was set at $100,000.
Jevne pleads not guilty
Verser also ordered an 8:30 a.m. Friday arraignment for all but Jevne, whose attorney asked that he be arraigned immediately.
Jevne entered a plea of not guilty and his trial was set for Dec. 19, with a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 9.
Verser ordered a sixth person, Toni Farris of Port Townsend, released from jail after the Prosecutor’s Office found no probable cause to file a criminal charge against her.