Kennewick teen competent to stand trial in great-grandmother’s kidnapping
A judge ruled Thursday that a Kennewick teen is competent to stand trial in the November kidnapping of his great-grandmother.
The order, signed in the case of Dyllan K. Martin, 16, comes after two mental health evaluations.
Martin’s Benton County Superior Court case had been on hold since mid-December when his attorney, Alexandria Sheridan, raised questions about his competency.
His first evaluation was by the state Department of Social and Health Services’ Child Study & Treatment Center, a psychiatric facility in Lakewood that treats juveniles. After that diagnosis, Sheridan requested an independent evaluation.
Both reports, and any potential findings on Martin’s mental health, have been sealed by the court.
His trial now is scheduled tentatively for May 16 on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary and vehicle theft.
The kidnapping charge includes aggravating circumstances that Hazel Abel, 86, was vulnerable and that the crime against her was deliberately cruel.
Abel, of Kennewick, was tied up, placed in the trunk of her car and driven six hours to Wood Village, Ore., where she freed herself as her alleged abductors stopped at a Walmart.
Police and prosecutors allege there were discussions among the teens to kill Abel and use her car to run away.
Earlier this month, co-defendant KateLynn Kenfield was convicted of first-degree kidnapping, residential burglary and second-degree theft of a vehicle.
Kenfield, who was 14 at the time of the crime, was tried in Juvenile Court.
Judge Cameron Mitchell rejected the defense claim that Kenfield played a lesser role in the kidnapping because she was under the influence of her alleged accomplices — Martin and her then-boyfriend Billy J. Underwood.
Kenfield’s sentencing is set for April 18.
Underwood, 15, has a May 2 trial date on similar charges.
Kristin M. Kraemer: 509-582-1531, @KristinMKraemer
This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Kennewick teen competent to stand trial in great-grandmother’s kidnapping."