Teen, 17, pleads guilty to killing the woman who raised him

EVERETT — A Snohomish County judge on Thursday sentenced a mentally ill teenager to 24 years in prison for bludgeoning his guardian to death last year.

Gina Latshaw didn’t give birth to Brad George but she was his mom. She had raised the boy since he was a toddler and spent years trying to find the right help for him. He was neglected as an infant and showed symptoms of mental illness from an early age.

Latshaw, 37, never gave up on her son.

“I think what I’ve agreed with myself is I’m going to make things better then what they are now,” George said Thursday. “I am sorry.”

George, 17, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder before he was sentenced. Lawyers had agreed to recommend the 24-year sentence.

Under the law, George can petition to be released after serving 20 years because he was convicted before he turned 18.

“There’s just something broken,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said. “That poses a great danger to folks if it goes unmitigated or untreated.”

George may be held at a juvenile detention center until he is 21. He will then be moved to adult prison. The lawyers agreed that for the next few years George would be better served by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, which provides opportunities for aggressive behavioral treatment specifically for juveniles.

There is no guarantee that he will be safe to be released after 20 years, but it is his best chance, Stern said.

“I have some hope that his mental illness is not static or permanent,” defense attorney Natalie Tarantino said.

Superior Court Judge Michael Downes was told that lawyers have been working behind the scenes for a year to resolve the case. They have spent little time litigating the case in court. Instead they have sought out the advice of forensic psychologists and others who specialize in the treatment of mentally ill juveniles. The experts agree that the next few years are critical for George.

“Despite his lifelong struggles with mental illness and his paranoid and delusional belief at the time of the murder that Ms. Latshaw was going to hurt or kill him, Washington law provides no statutory mental defense for Mr. George’s actions that day,” Tarantino wrote in court papers.

Latshaw was beaten to death with a dumbbell while she slept in her south Everett apartment. Police found her body Feb. 8, 2014, after George called 911 to report that he returned from school to find the door to the apartment open.

The next day George confessed and told detectives he used a coat hanger to disable the security bar Latshaw had recently installed on her bedroom door. Detectives found the dumbbell in a garbage can outside the apartment. A matching dumbbell was discovered in George’s bedroom.

The teen tried to cover up his involvement by staging a break-in. He tossed Latshaw’s purse in a dumpster and threw other property into nearby bushes.

The teen told detectives that he had negative thoughts before the killing, including suspicions that Latshaw was poisoning him with bleach.

Latshaw had been the teen’s biggest advocate, always searching out the right doctor and medicine. He came into her life in 1999 when she started dating his dad, who at the time had custody of three of his four children.

The boy’s father, a drug addict, was sentenced to prison in 2002. The children’s biological mother was in and out of their lives. The next year Latshaw sought custody of George and an older sister, telling a judge she wanted to provide them with a stable environment.

It was a challenge with George. By the time he was 5, Latshaw had him evaluated by a mental health professional. He was showing disturbing behaviors.

He was becoming more aggressive, hitting, kicking and banging his head on walls. Latshaw told a mental health clinician that the boy had talked about killing himself and her.

His teachers worried that his behavior was preventing him from making friends. George, they said, treated people like inanimate objects.

His behaviors, the clinician concluded, were consistent among children who have been abused or neglected as infants.

She kept him in therapy and he worked with a mental health specialist at school. He was admitted to a hospital in 2010. He reported having hallucinations and was diagnosed with homicidal ideation. He pulled off the wooden arm of a chair and threatened a nurse.

At 15, he was convicted of assaulting a staff member while attending Overlake Speciality School in Bellevue.

Latshaw’s family and friends said the Everett woman was devoted to her son. She was a compassionate advocate who believed there was a better way.

Her son kept his head bowed Thursday. He looked up as he was led away and found his sisters sitting in the courtroom. They told him they loved him.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.