Five of the six suspects accused in the shooting death of 17-year-old Allie Saum made their first appearance in court Monday morning and all were formally charged in the crime.
Appearing via closed circuit TV were 22-year-old Macio Domingo Palacio, 19-year-old Jerome Dawayne Forbes, 19-year-old Daniel Allan Sims, and 18-year-old Stephen Albert Gentry.
All four men are facing the same four felony charges, which were read by Saline County District Court Judge Renee Young. The charges include 1st degree murder, attempted 1st degree murder, criminal discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle, and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery.
21-year-old Azucena Garcia-Ferniza also appeared in court to face her charges. She appeared in person as a single charge of felony obstruction was formally read.
Of the five suspects that appeared, only Palacio appeared to show any emotion. He cried as Judge Young read the charges against him and as he spoke to her moments after.
All of the suspects were charged with their involvement in Saum’s death last Wednesday night. Police say the Salina South High School junior who was shot and killed in what they call a case of mistaken identity. An investigation determined that the shooting was the result of a fight that occurred earlier in the day on Wednesday.
Police say a group of people went out to seek revenge for the fight and one of them mistakenly identified a male in a blue Dodge truck as having been involved in the previous fight.
Shots were fired at about 9:30 p.m. at the truck as it drove eastbound in the 500 block of Russell Avenue, just east of Roach Street. Saum was in the passengers side of the truck, which was being driven by her boyfriend, and was struck in the head. She died early Thursday morning at Salina Regional Health Center.
All of the adult suspects have been ordered to return to court on Monday, May 18th at 10:30 a.m. Each suspect faces a life sentence on the first degree murder charge with a minimum of 50 years, while the attempted murder charge carries a possible sentence of 147-653 months. Other charges in the case such as discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle carry a possible sentence of 55-247 months and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery carries a possible sentence of 5-17 months.
The four male suspects are all being held in the Saline County Jail on a $1 million bond. The female suspect, Garcia-Ferniza, is currently free on bond.
17-year-old Andrew Woodring has also been charged in the case. He appeared in juvenile court last Thursday. He is facing the same charges of 1st degree murder, attempted 1st degree murder, criminal discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle, conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, and an additional charge of felony obstruction.
The Saline County Attorney’s Office is currently determining whether or not they want to file a petition to try Woodring as an adult. He is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility in Junction City. He is next scheduled to appear with his attorney in juvenile court in Salina on Thursday, May 14th at 3:00 p.m.