PORT ANGELES — A hearing at 9 a.m. today will determine whether or not statements that a teen made to police about how her baby died can be used against her in court.
Lauryn Last, 17, is accused of second-degree murder.
Last pleaded not guilty to both first- and second-degree murder in January 2009 after authorities found the newborn boy in a 30-ton trash container near Tacoma, where garbage had been shipped via the Port Angeles transfer station.
Prosecutors allege that Last drowned the infant in the toilet and placed the body in an alley trash can.
Last was originally charged with first-degree murder with an alternative of second-degree murder, but prosecutors dropped the first-degree option, which includes premeditation.
Last’s original bail was $500,000.
At the hearing today, several Port Angeles Police officers will speak about the events surrounding Last’s statements to police.
Prosecutors filed in March a plea agreement that would reduce the charge to first-degree manslaughter — and the case would go to juvenile court.
The agreement — which is good until May 3 and has not yet been accepted or rejected — offers a recommended sentence of 15 to 36 weeks with credit for time served.
According to the plea offer, if she were convicted, she could serve between 10 ¼ and 18 1/3 years in prison.
Last’s trial is scheduled to begin June 7.
Previous trail dates were March 2, April 20, Sept. 24 and Nov. 16 in 2009, and Jan. 25.
Suzanne Hayden, representing Last, said in January 2009 that Last did not know she was in labor and that she went into shock after giving birth while sitting on a toilet.
An autopsy of the baby showed that he was full-term and that it died by drowning, according to court documents.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
