3 teens appear in court on Kennewick kidnapping case

Three teens accused of kidnapping an elderly Kennewick woman, stashing her in a car trunk and driving to Oregon made their first appearances in Benton County courts on Friday.

Dyllan K. Martin, Billy J. Underwood and Katlyn Kenfield were driven back from Portland on Thursday after each one waived their extradition.

They all are charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary and vehicle theft. The kidnapping includes aggravating circumstances that Hazel Abel, 86, was vulnerable and that the crime was deliberately cruel.

Martin, 16, is the great-grandson of the victim. He pleaded innocent Friday before Superior Court Judge Bruce Spanner, and has a trial date scheduled for Jan. 11.

His case automatically was bumped up to because of his age, so he will be tried as an adult.

Underwood, 15, and Kenfield, 14, currently are being handled in Benton County Juvenile Court. They appeared before Court Commissioner Joseph Schneider and are set to return to court in early December.

“We will definitely seek a decline (to adult court) on Mr. Underwood, and we will explore the options on Miss Kenfield,” Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor told the Herald.

According to court documents, Martin and Underwood had been planning for about three weeks to steal Abel’s car.

That plan eventually developed into the boys intending to kill Abel by leaving her in an unpopulated area where she would die from exposure, documents said. They allegedly discussed first placing her in the trunk of the car so no one would witness the theft.

The teen boys also allegedly talked about killing Abel and leaving her body in the trunk, then setting fire to the car to destroy the evidence.

On Nov. 2, Martin gave some dirt to Underwood to throw in his great-grandmother’s face when she opened the door of her South Skagit Avenue home, court documents show. Underwood then knocked down the victim and the boys bound her hands and took her to the car, documents said.

Abel’s dog was placed in the trunk with her.

The boys, along with Kenfield, drove for several hours, finally stopping at a Walmart near Portland, court documents show.

Abel freed her hands, used the trunk release and crawled out to get help at about 3 a.m.

Security video reportedly shows the teens running from outside the store after seeing the trunk pop open, documents said. They were arrested a few hours later at a nearby gas station.

Prosecutors and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office agreed that the case would be prosecuted in Benton County.

Martin has been ordered to have no contact with Abel while the case is pending. He is being held in the Benton County jail on $250,000 bail.

Underwood, who is in juvenile detention, also has bail set at $250,000.

Defense attorney Scott Johnson on Friday got Kenfield’s bail reduced to $50,000.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 7:15 PM with the headline "3 teens appear in court on Kennewick kidnapping case."