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SCHOOLS | Lake Washington School District holds Community Leaders Breakfast [3] CRIME ALERT | Redmond Police Blotter [3] SPORTS | Redmond High baseball and softball players sign on with University of Washington. [13]
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Father sentenced to 20 years for injecting son with heroin ANDY NYSTROM anystrom@redmond-reporter.com
Eric E. Lehtinen was sentenced to 20 years in prison Nov. 13 for attempting to kill his 4-year-old son in September 2013 by injecting him with heroin. The Redmond resident pleaded guilty to the offense of first-degree attempted murder in August 2015. Judge Mary Roberts sentenced Lehtinen,
now 39, at the King County Courthouse in Seattle. The case was handled by Senior Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz and Deputy Prosecutor Ben Gauen. Lehtinen’s son, now 6, was released from Seattle Children’s Hospital in October 2013. “I have nothing but to live with the consequences of what happened that night,” Lehtinen told the judge via a Kiro7.
com live stream. He noted that it’s extremely painful thinking about the incident and he regrets causing pain to his son, ex-wife and family. “I didn’t want to hurt anybody,” he said. “In my state of mind, from what I remember that night, is extreme terror. I was in a very twisted state, very delusional. I’m sorry.” Lehtinen said he takes full responsibility for his actions and apologized to his son,
ex-wife and family. He also apologized to the court and state for having to deal with such a “horrible thing.” Lehtinen, who was reported to have mental health issues, said he was a good father up until the incident and added that while he was in jail he wanted to be with his son. Lehtinen’s ex-wife also spoke at the sentencing and said that [ more LEHTINEN page 7 ]
Eric E. Lehtinen at his sentencing Nov. 13 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle. Courtesy of kiro7.com, screenshot
From Rags to Riches owner helps Bahamians in need SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
From Rags to Riches owner Leona Coakley-Spring sits in her Redmond store, surrounded by clothing and a painting she’s working on. She opened the store at the beginning of November. SAMANTHA PAK, Redmond Reporter
Election results to be certified on Tuesday
The most recent King County Elections results — before the Reporter’s deadline — were released for this month’s general election at 3:48 p.m. Wednesday and Redmond incumbent John Marchione continues to hold the lead in the city’s mayoral race. Marchione holds 54.00 percent (5,381) of the votes and challenger Steve Fields holds 45.76 percent (4,560) of the votes. So far, 10,743 ballots have been counted. There are 28,164 registered voters in Redmond, putting current voter turnout at 38.14 percent. On the Redmond City Council ballot, four candidates are running unopposed: Hank Myers (Position 1) — 98.44 percent (6,574 votes); Hank Margeson (Position 3) — 98.38 percent (6,484 votes); Angela Birney (Position 5) — 98.86 percent (6,571 votes); and David Carson (Position 7) — 98.53 percent (6,435 votes). Results will be certified on Tuesday.
While the Bahamas may bring to mind images of islands with pristine beaches and a feeling of relaxation for many people, for Leona Coakley-Spring that is just half of the picture. For the Bahamian-born Redmond resident, the picture of her homeland also includes images of the poor and homeless — two things she experienced firsthand at one point of her island life. “I grew up poor,” she said. “I mean, dirt poor.” The picture also includes people living with HIV and AIDS, and for 18 years, it has been Coakley-Spring’s mission to do what
she can to help those with the disease. As someone with a performance background, she has put on concerts featuring herself as well as various members of her musical family and recorded and sold CDs; she has also sold Bahamian baked goods at local farmers’ markets as well as some of her paintings — all with proceeds going toward the All Saints AIDS Shelter in Nassau, Bahamas. Coakley-Spring said the shelter houses up to about 120 people, and currently, there are about 40 children and 60 adults living there. She said some of the residents are HIV positive, while others have full-blown AIDS. There are also situations in which [ more RICHES page 7 ]
Gearing up for Thanksgiving at Poultry Predictor 5K People ran and some won Thanksgiving turkeys at the 5th Annual Redmond Poultry Predictor 5K last Saturday on the Redmond Central Connector. Runners guessed their times before the race and the top five runners with the closest times in the Predictor division won turkeys. The city partnered for a third year with Open Kitchen, which is a local, grassroots, all-volunteer program that is fueled by passion to serve others and funded exclusively by donations from the community and local businesses. Courtesy of Ken Wong