Michael Salazar makes an appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Monday afternoon in Chehalis.
Michael Salazar, the 17-year-old Kennewick resident accused of preventing someone from reporting the plan to kill Randle teen Benjamin Eastman III to a third party last summer, pleaded not guilty to the numerous felony charges against him Thursday.
Salazar is charged with first-degree murder or in the alternative second-degree murder, first-degree rendering criminal assistance and first-degree tampering with physical evidence.
During Thursday’s arraignment hearing, a trial was set to start the week of Sept. 16, 2019, with a trial confirmation hearing on Sept. 12 and an omnibus on Aug. 15.
Additionally during the hearing, Salazar’s legal counsel Robert Chavez argued that Salazar’s bail — set at $250,000 bail when a warrant was issued for his arrest — should be lowered to $100,000. Chavez said authorities, who have been investigating the case for some time, had ample time in the case to arrest Salazar. He believes his client would show up to future hearings if he were to bail out.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer argued that authorities only recently happened on the information that led to Salazar’s arrest. Additionally, he said, Salazar could possibly interfere with the process, given it’s been alleged he helped destroy evidence in Eastman’s death.
Judge James Lawler said the bail amount would stay where it is.
Salazar is accused of knowing Jonathon Adamson and Benito Marquez’s planned to lure Eastman from his house and attack him. He allegedly physically stopped someone from telling a third-party about the plan, after their intentions were discussed during a camping trip, according to court documents.
Adamson and Marquez have since pleaded guilty to a slew of felonies, including first-degree murder and first-degree rape in Eastman’s death.
Salazar’s mother Amanda L. Hagerty, 42, was also arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance, was arrested at the same time as Salazar. She’s accused of helping Adamson and Marquez devise a false story to tell law enforcement as they investigated Eastman’s disappearance, and later tipping them off that Eastman’s body had been found.
