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SPOKANE COUNTY - Andrew Sorensen’s loved ones spent nearly a year searching, praying and worrying for the 19-year-old. On Oct. 22, 2021, his body was found bound, beaten and stabbed in the trunk of an abandoned car next to a Spokane park.
The family’s suffering continued when the killing drew national attention because John B. Eisenman claimed that Sorensen sex-trafficked their daughter, of which police found no evidence.
On Friday, the Sorensen family got some justice and closure when the 63-year-old Eisenman received a 25-year prison sentence for the brutal slaying.
“There will be some satisfaction today, but not a lot,” Curtis Boutain, Sorensen’s grandfather, told Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese.
Plese sentenced in January Eisenman’s codefendant and fiancée, Brenda D. Kross, to 8½ years in prison after she pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Tom Treppiedi called Eisenman, who pleaded guilty in November to first-degree murder, the “primary actor” in the killing.
Plese sentenced Eisenman to the middle of the standard sentence range, or just over 25 years, even though Treppiedi and Cossey recommended a 22-year sentence.
Nine people, including Sorensen’s parents, expressed to Plese the misery, anger and sorrow they’ve experienced since Sorensen went missing in 2020. They asked Plese to impose the most severe sentence she could.
Randy Sorensen confronted Eisenman, who wore yellow Spokane County Jail clothing with his gray hair tied back in a ponytail, when it was his turn to speak Friday.
He said he and Eisenman could have worked through any issues involving their children, but he took advantage of Andrew and “brutally murdered” him instead.
“It would have just taken a phone call, brother,” Randy said. “You’re going to prison, and my kid’s dead.”
He said Eisenman took advantage of Andrew, who had cerebral palsy and autism, when he and Kross confronted him and tied him up.
“Evil came over you,” Randy said. “I feel like John is a really evil man, and I don’t know why.”
Eisenman told Plese he wanted the family to know that he killed Andrew, not Kross.
“I admitted that from day one,” he said.
Theresa Sorensen carried a large red box filled with manila envelopes of Andrew’s medical records to the prosecutor’s table to show how much work and love goes into raising a disabled son.
She said people might think her life is easier with her son gone, but it’s not.
“He counted on me to care for him and to take care of him, and I’m really sorry I don’t get to anymore,” she said.
At Kross’ sentencing in January, Theresa said she and her husband adopted Andrew despite his physical and mental issues, which required extensive therapies and doctor appointments, but that Andrew was “just a happy kid” free of tantrums that young children often have.
“The longer Andrew was with us, the more we fell in love with him,” she said.
As a teenager, she said her son would often leave home and return with a homeless person he befriended.
She said her son worked hard, and they had plans for his future.
Judy Boutain, Andrew’s aunt, said Friday Andrew’s parents will never be complete again.
“This is their new reality,” she said.
Many family members spoke of the brutal murder and the false sex-trafficking motive that earned Eisenman financial support on a crowdfunding website for his legal defense. He later said he was likely under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the slaying.
“It’s a slander that affects our whole family,” Curtis said.
He said Andrew was a sweet person who didn’t want to harm anyone. He once gave shoes to a friend on the street and walked home barefoot.
“He would never hurt anybody intentionally,” Curtis said.
Judy called Eisenman and Kross “liars” for concocting the narrative of Eisenman exacting revenge on Andrew for the baseless sex-trafficking claims.
“They are monsters, and when they were caught, they acted as if they were heroes,” she said.
According to court documents, Eisenman told police he and Kross went to Seattle in October 2020 to rescue their daughter from the supposed prostitution. After returning to Spokane with the girl, he learned Andrew was going to be at a mobile home park in Airway Heights.
That’s where Eisenman confronted Andrew, bound and gagged him, and put him into the trunk of the car, he told police.
While Andrew was in the trunk, Eisenman admitted to punching him and throwing a cinder block at his head, then stabbing him several times in the stomach.
Eisenman told police he drove the car back to his residence with Andrew’s body inside the trunk and left the vehicle parked on the street. The next day, Eisenman drove the car, with Andrew’s body still inside, to property off U.S. Highway 2. He put the Honda in the back of the property and removed the car battery, so that no one could drive it.
Kross made it nearly another year before being arrested after she told a co-worker about taunting the dying teen, according to documents.
Kross told the co-worker in August 2022 she played a song about “crying, crying, crying” while she and Eisenman killed Andrew. Kross then started to hum the song, the co-worker told police, saying she played the song because Andrew was crying so much while begging for his life. The woman said Kross told her that she and Eisenman were laughing and singing while the 19-year-old cried.
“Killing Andrew was a party for John and Brenda,” Judy said.
Kross told the co-worker she punched Andrew in the face and that she and Eisenman hit him with a cinder block, beat him and stabbed him. She said they put his body in the trunk of her vehicle before ditching the car.
The woman said Kross told her Andrew “got what he deserved.”
Eisenman’s attorney, Robert Cossey, said his client has no felonies and has been employed with high-paying physical labor jobs throughout his life. He said Eisenman did not fabricate his motive for killing Andrew and that he originally wanted to go to trial, take the stand and explain his perspective.
He eventually decided to plead guilty as charged because he didn’t want to put the Sorensen family through a trial, Cossey said. He said Eisenman believes he’ll die in prison.
SEATTLE — One man was injured during an armed carjacking early Saturday morning in the SODO neighborhood in Seattle.
A Seattle police officer was dispatched to 3100 Airport Way South at around 5:32 a.m., to a report that a person had been shot. When the officer arrived, the victim was awake and able to speak.
When the officer arrived, he found one victim with a gunshot wound. The victim said he had been sleeping in his car, a black Dodge Dakota parked on South Stevens Street, when he was awoken by two men, one armed with a rifle and the other with a handgun.
The men told the victim they were taking his truck, and then one of the suspects shot him.
The victim said he didn't know either suspect, and he wasn't sure which direction they fled after the carjacking.
SPD did not provide a plate number. One handgun shell casing was recovered from the scene and taken into evidence.
The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.
VANCOUVER - Should Safe Stays stay? Vancouver officials, advocates for the homeless debate whether communities should be permanent.
Vancouver has seen more success with its program than many cities but the pallet shelters were meant as a temporary fix.
Vancouver’s system of temporary shelters may become a permanent part of the city’s plan to address homelessness.
The city launched its Safe Stay program in 2021 with the opening of The Outpost, a fenced-off lot with 20 portable, two-person sleeping huts and staff to support residents. Since then, Vancouver has opened three more of the shelters and spent $9.5 million on the program.
Although city staff deem the Safe Stay program to be successful — it places more people in housing than the average shelter — it was intended as a stopgap measure. The sleeping huts, manufactured by a company called Pallet, aren’t durable structures. The city will either need to replace them or build something else.
Two of the city’s Safe Stays are already past or close to their original contract end dates. Although Vancouver issued an emergency order to keep the sites operating, residents are concerned about the future of the program, said Adam Kravitz, executive director of Outsiders Inn. The nonprofit operates two Safe Stays, The Outpost in the North Image neighborhood and 415 West in downtown.
“People are very scared,” Kravitz said.
‘I would have failed’
Vancouver’s Safe Stay residents and staff converged on the Feb. 24 city council meeting to advocate for the program’s continuation.
Amber Rodriguez, 51, was among those who spoke. The Columbian had last spoken with her a year ago when she was addicted to fentanyl and living in a downtown homeless camp. At that point, her addiction had caused her to lose everything, including her children.
As Rodriguez approached the microphone to address the city council, she appeared healthier. Her freckled skin, once red from unrelenting exposure to the sun, was less weathered. She moved into 415 West in June.
“I have a place to go every night, and the staff there are amazing. … I just love it there,” she said.
After experiencing dozens of overdoses on the street, living in the Safe Stay gave her the strength and stability to become sober, she said. Staff members who have had similar experiences supported her through addiction recovery and helped her make appointments to improve her mental health.
“I want to show my kids that drugs are not the way to go,” Rodriguez said through tears.
Although some have argued the city’s money would be better spent on housing rather than Safe Stays, Rodriguez said her recent achievements, including becoming sober, likely wouldn’t have happened if she moved directly from the streets into housing.
“I probably would have failed,” she said. “I would have rather gone here so I can get back into everyday life and back into my routine.”
Safe Stay model
Before the Safe Stay program, Clark County had fewer than 100 year-round beds for homeless adults, fewer than 15 beds for single women, and no options for couples without children, according to the city.
When the pandemic hit, homelessness spiked. The number of homeless people in Clark County grew by about a third between 2020 and 2022.
As cities across the United States grappled with rising homelessness, they began experimenting with a new model of shelter to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This noncongregate approach offered people privacy, as well as the ability to keep pets and room with a partner.
During this time, the Everett-based company Pallet took off as demand for temporary, easy-to-assemble huts grew across the country.
The city of Vancouver purchased 20 of these units in 2021 for its first Safe Stay at 11400 N.E. 51st Circle, which also offers sanitation services, portable toilets, handwashing stations, meeting spaces and a communal kitchen. Over the following three years, three more Safe Stays followed.
Although neighbors and nearby businesses were concerned Safe Stays would attract crime and drive away customers, many say their fears haven’t come to fruition. Calls to 911 actually went down by 30 percent to 40 percent across Safe Stay sites, compared with rates in those locations before the shelters opened, according to the city.
The program “is effectively reducing the need for emergency services,” Jamie Spinelli, the city’s homeless response manager, said at a recent city council meeting.
Cost and results
The ongoing cost of the average hut in a Safe Stay is $1,956 a month, which is more than the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment’s rent in Vancouver. But that figure includes supportive services and food.
Although the program’s cost has drawn criticism, staff say the results speak for themselves.
So far, 424 people have lived in Safe Stay communities, including 87 current residents, according to the city. Out of the people who have left the Safe Stays, half of them (or 168) have landed housing. That’s 17.6 percent higher than the national average in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
That higher success rate is due to the program’s emphasis on imparting the skills needed to stay housed, as well as connecting residents with addiction treatment, employment services and mental health counseling, Safe Stay staff say.
“To take somebody from chronic homelessness to an apartment of any style is very difficult without wraparound care,” said Brian Norris, executive director of Live Love Outreach, the nonprofit operating the city’s second Safe Stay, Hope Village at 4915 E. Fourth Plain Blvd.
More than half of those who transitioned from Safe Stays to housing are paying rent on their own without receiving ongoing subsidies, according to the city.
Many of those who successfully exited the Safe Stays became employees of the program. At least 20 former and current residents are working in Safe Stays or other homeless services, according to the city.
“That would have never occurred without these sites,” Spinelli told the city council.
Temporary shelter
On March 3, Spinelli presented the conundrum of Safe Stays’ temporary permits, which only last three years, to city councilors.
“For the last year, (Safe Stay) residents have asked, ‘Are we going to have to shut down within a year?’ ” she said.
Councilors generally seemed supportive of making the program permanent. But they also indicated they may consider making the structures housing people more permanent, too. Pallet shelters are designed to be temporary, which is why so many cities use them as an emergency solution.
“I support the program being a long-term program. … I’m not supportive of the form being the tiny temporary housing,” Vancouver City Councilor Sarah Fox said at a recent meeting. “An investment in these buildings … might not last very long.”
Fox suggested a brick-and-mortar structure but wasn’t sure what it should look like. Most councilors agreed that a permanent Safe Stay program shouldn’t have temporary shelters.
Councilor Bart Hansen, however, said he’s less supportive of permanent facilities because they could be expensive.
“We were already $43 million short on our last budget,” he said.
The cost of more permanent shelter was part of the reason the city chose Pallet brand shelters, Spinelli said. Another issue is that the city doesn’t own the land at two of the Safe Stay sites.
The city’s budget woes have put plans for a fifth Safe Stay on hold, Spinelli said.
Replace or build?
Although a Pallet representative said all of its products are meant to last 20 years, some cities haven’t had such luck.
In Eugene, Ore., the nonprofit SquareOne Villages decided to retire its Pallet brand shelters after just two years, said Amanda Dellinger, the nonprofit’s community relations director.
Instead, SquareOne Villages opted for building tiny homes that cost about $15,000 each and should last as long as a normal house, Dellinger said.
Although Vancouver paid a little over $7,000 each for its Pallet brand shelters in 2021, the price for newer models jumped to $11,792 in 2023.
However, operators of Vancouver’s oldest Safe Stay say the Pallet shelters are still holding up fine three years later.
“I hear their ‘what ifs,’ but the units that we’ve been using have held the test of time so far,” said Ren Autrey, deputy director of Outsiders Inn.
No matter what the city decides to do, Kravitz hopes the layout of Safe Stays will stay the same. The huts arranged around a community space not only provide privacy but are reminiscent of the encampments people had lived in previously, making the transition easier, he said.
“These spaced-out individual units really serve a population that has been traumatized in a way that can’t be matched in a brick-and-mortar,” Kravitz said.
The city has not scheduled a follow-up discussion about the future of Safe Stays. However, if the city wishes to update its city code to not require temporary use permits for Safe Stays, it’ll need to do so by June 30.
SEATTLE - In less than a week, Climate Pledge Arena will transform its ice rink into a basketball court as Seattle hosts thousands of fans for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Excitement for the tournament is building, but scammers are already hard at work.
“It’s not that people are foolish or that they don’t understand how to do things. This scamming is a professional business,” says cybersecurity expert, Paul Keener.
In one of the largest scams, scammers sell tickets that look legitimate but aren’t. Oftentimes, the buyers don’t even know their ticket is fake until they arrive at the event and are turned away.
Here’s how to avoid March Madness scams
For the NCAA tournament, a spokesperson for Climate Pledge tells KIRO 7, “We strive for the best possible guest experience for all fans who come to Climate Pledge Arena, whether that be for a Kraken game, concert, or the upcoming March Madness games. We strongly encourage all fans to buy their tickets from the venue’s primary ticket provider. For Climate Pledge Arena, this is Ticketmaster.com. NCAA Ticket Exchange on Ticketmaster is the official resale marketplace for the upcoming March Madness games.”
“Nobody wants to pay the service charges associated with all of these things,” says Keener. “So you try to find a place like Facebook Marketplace or something like that.”
He says if you do buy resale, use sites like Stub Hub, Vivid Seats, and Ticketmaster, which offer refund protections that Craigslist and Facebook don’t have.
His biggest coaching tip – use a credit card, so if you are scammed, you can dispute the charge and hopefully recoup the money.
“Maybe you’re disappointed because you couldn’t get in the game, but at least you didn’t lose out $400 in tickets,” says Keener.
ENUMCLAW, Wash. — The Washington State Patrol tracked a stolen car on Friday, only to discover that the driver and passengers were all under the age of 15.
Trooper Rick Johnson reported that the car was seen driving erratically on SR 164 in the Enumclaw area.
Troopers found the stolen vehicle parked at a Texaco, and subsequently discovered that the driver was 13 and the passengers were 11, 13, 13, and 14.
The 13-year-old driver was pumping gas when the WSP arrived, while the other teens were inside the gas station buying candy.
The WSP did not say if the teens were facing any penalties.