Maria Sevilla-Martinez makes an appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on allegations of first degree robbery and vehicle theft Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Maria Sevilla-Martinez makes an appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on allegations of first degree robbery and vehicle theft Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
A Centralia teen was charged as an adult Wednesday after being arrested for allegedly luring her ex-boyfriend to a hotel where other suspects assaulted him and stole his car.
Maria I. Sevilla-Martinez, 17, was charged Wednesday in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.
First-degree robbery is a class A felony punishable by up to life in prison.
Sevilla-Martinez was booked after her arrest into Lewis County Juvenile Detention, but is being charged as an adult due to the severity of the crime she is accused of, said Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello Wednesday.
State law allows prosecutors to automatically charge 16 and 17-year-olds as adults in certain cases, such as violent felonies.
Masiello asked for $500,000 bail, citing a concern for community safety.
Defense attorney Kevin Nelson, representing Sevilla-Martinez at her first hearing, asked for lesser bail based on her lack of felony criminal history and her age.
He also argued that Sevilla-Martinez was not an active participant in the robbery.
“She would go as far as to say she was also a victim of this crime,” he said.
Superior Court Judge Joely O’Rourke disagreed with the statement that Sevilla Martinez did not actively participate.
“There’s the allegation she was the one that lured him to this location where he was assaulted,” O’Rourke said.
The judge set bail at $150,000 and scheduled Sevilla-Martinez’ next hearing for Dec. 21.
According to court documents, the Centralia Police Department responded on Dec. 6 to a report of a robbery at a hotel in the 700 block of Harrison Avenue. They met a man bleeding from a wound on his head.
The man reported that Sevilla-Martinez, his ex-girlfriend, asked him to come to the hotel.
He told police that when he got to the room he was immediately hit in the head and assaulted by two men.
He reported Sevilla-Martinez and two other women were also in the hotel room.
The two male suspects reportedly took the victim’s wallet and car keys and threatened to shoot the victim if he tried to leave, according to court documents.
All five suspects then left in the victim’s car, the victim told officers.
Video surveillance footage from the hotel showed Sevilla-Martinez leaving the hotel room and the two male suspects leaving right before the victim called 911, according to court documents.
Sevilla-Martinez was arrested at her home on Tuesday.
