3 teens charged in Kennewick grandmother kidnapping

Benton County prosecutors have charged three teens accused of kidnapping an elderly Kennewick woman, binding her hands, hiding her in a car trunk and driving her to Oregon.

Dyllan K. Martin, 16, the great-grandson of the victim, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

The former Legacy High student is charged as an adult in Benton County Superior Court.

The other two suspects, Billy Underwood, 15, and Katlyn Kenfield, 14, have been charged with the same crimes in juvenile court, said Terry Bloor, chief deputy prosecutor in Benton County.

The charges carry two aggravating circumstances alleging the victim, Hazel Abel, 86, was vulnerable and the crimes were deliberately cruel. The aggravating circumstances will allow prosecutors to ask for harsher sentences if the teens are convicted.

Benton County did not release court documents Tuesday detailing the charges against Underwood and Kenfield.

Bail has been set at $250,000 for the teens, who are being held at a juvenile detention facility in Multnomah County in Oregon.

Prosecutors and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office have agreed that the case will be prosecuted in Benton County, officials told the Herald. A hearing is expected this week to help determine when the teens will return to the area.

Bloor anticipates the prosecutor’s office will request that Underwood be charged as an adult, he said. Prosecutors also will consider at charging Kenfield as an adult.

Martin and Underwood planned for several weeks to steal Abel’s car and run away to Oregon, court documents said. The pair then hatched the idea to kill Abel and burn her body in the trunk so she wouldn’t report her car being stolen.

They also discussed leaving Abel in unpopulated areas so “she would die from exposure,” court documents said.

The teens allegedly abducted Abel on Nov. 2 from her home on South Skagit Avenue, court documents said. She was bound, placed in the trunk of her car and driven to Oregon.

Abel reportedly escaped while the car was parked outside a Walmart near Portland. The teens were arrested a few hours later at a nearby gas station.

Video footage from Walmart apparently shows the teens running from the store after Abel escaped, court documents said. The teens admitted to to the abduction in interviews with law enforcement.

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 7:33 PM with the headline "3 teens charged in Kennewick grandmother kidnapping."