Mark Humiston Fall City son, 15, waives first court appearance, ordered to have no contact with surviving sister as a Washington state judge finds probable cause to charge the juvenile with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder.
The 15 year old son of a Fall City, Washington state couple who gunned down his parents and 3 siblings on Tuesday waived his first court ordered appearance, with the juvenile ordered to have no contact with his surviving sister.
Mark Humiston, 42, his wife Sarah and three of their children were found shot dead on Monday inside their rustic $2 million mansion in Fall City by Lake Alice, about 30 miles east of Seattle, which has some of the most expensive homes in America and an average income of $120K per household.
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The victims’ father was identified as a software engineer working as a principal at Hargis Engineers in Seattle, where he had worked for nearly 20 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The juvenile’s mother, Sarah Humiston, is believed to have been a registered nurse. Her nursing license expired at the end of 2022.
While the un-named 15 year old teen had yet to be formally charged, a judge found probable cause for five counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder, King5 reported.
The outlet reported the 15-year-old suspect waiving his right to appear at his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon. The teen was represented by a defense attorney.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the court ordered the suspect to have no contact with his surviving immediate family member.
‘I would remind everyone that these are not proven facts, merely allegations, and the law presumes our client is innocent of these charges,’ said Defense Attorney Amy Parker.
‘What we want to look at are the details gathered by investigators, and what we can show the court,’ said Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
No prior criminal history
‘We want the court to know that our client is a 15-year-old boy who enjoys mountain biking and fishing and has no criminal history,’ Parker told the court, King5 reported.
Of note, the juvenile suspect had no prior criminal history.
‘There is no indication that he has come to the prosecutor’s office before, no previous cases, no first appearances. That’s unusual to see these kinds of allegations with no previous contact with the prosecutor’s office, but that is what we have here,’ said McNerthney.
The allegations were the focus in the courtroom Tuesday.
‘They create the highest possible risk to community safety and I order secure detention,’ said Judge Joe Campagna.
The teen suspect was ordered in secure detention until his next hearing. Prosecutors anticipate a case referral from investigators as early as Thursday for a formal charging decision. Another hearing is scheduled for Friday.
No known motive
It has not yet been decided if the teen will be charged as an adult in the crime. That decision will be made after the case is referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which is expected as early as Thursday.
Not immediately clear is what led up to the mass shooting and why the boy targeted his immediate family.
There have been at least 427 mass shootings year to date in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The site defines a mass shooting as one that injures or kills four or more people, not including the shooter. Gun violence is the leading cause of death among minors in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 1,100 children and teens died in mass shootings this year alone, according to the archive.
The killings in Fall City seem to broadly fit the definition of a type of crime known since the 1980s as ‘family annihilations.’ Those cases often involve a person with a gun who murders multiple close family members.
A 2023 Indianapolis Star investigation found they had been occurring across the US – on average – once every five days.
