PORT ANGELES — A 17-year-old girl who is charged as an adult with first-degree murder in connection with the death of her infant son almost a year ago awaits a Jan. 25 trial in Clallam County Superior Court.
But whether Lauryn L. Last goes to trial next month is still up in the air.
“Right now, we’re still waiting to talk to our experts to get some opinions,” defense attorney Suzanne Hayden said Monday.
A pathologist will advise defense attorneys on the right questions to ask the state pathologist. The defense is also waiting for a forensic evaluation from a psychiatric expert, Hayden said.
A pre-trial hearing was postponed from last Friday to Dec. 18 at 1:30 p.m. in Clallam County Superior Court.
Last pleaded not guilty to the Dec. 30, 2008, death in January and has maintained her innocence.
Prosecutors allege that the teen mom drowned the newborn in a bathroom toilet, then placed the body in a trash bin outside her father’s home in Port Angeles, where she had been staying.
The contents of the trash bin were taken to the Port Angeles transfer station, where the garbage was taken by container to a dump near Tacoma.
The body of the infant was found by authorities in the 30-ton trash container Jan. 5.
Defense attorneys have argued that Last didn’t know she was in labor and that she went into shock after giving birth.
Last was arrested at her father’s home Jan. 2.
Father identified
DNA tests later confirmed that the baby’s father is Gregory J. Greenway of Pueblo, Colo., who is accused of sexually assaulting Last in April 2008.
Greenway, 37, was arrested in Pueblo in May on a warrant for sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.
He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge — criminal attempt to commit sexual assault on a child — on Sept. 30 in Pueblo District Court.
Greenway will be sentenced on Dec. 14, the Pueblo Chieftain reported.
The newspaper also reported that Greenway pleaded guilty to the lesser charge because he faced a possible life sentence if convicted on the original count.
Greenway now faces a maximum of four years imprisonment.
The autopsy on the newborn boy was performed by the Pierce County medical examiner in Tacoma.
Last spent eight months in the Clallam County Juvenile Services Detention Facility in Port Angeles on $500,000 bail.
Back to juvenile center
She was released in September to live with her uncle and attend school but was taken off electronic home monitoring on Nov. 3 and returned to the juvenile center.
Hayden said the teen would likely be out of custody if either parent lived in the area.
“We would certainly like to have it [the trial] in January, now that she’s back in custody,” Hayden said.
“The issue is getting all of the forensic information in the open.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
