Two Redmond teens charged in mom murder plot
A Redmond teen and his girlfriend, both 17, have been arrested on attempted murder charges, accused of injuring and trying to kill his mother at their Redmond home, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Monday.
Dakota Ortwein and Reyanne West were arrested in connection with an incident that occurred last Thursday afternoon at the Ortwein home in Redmond, Hummel said in a news release.
Hummel told NewsChannel 21 a call to 911 brought authorities to the Home. He said the woman did require hospitalization after the incident, but was later released. He also said he could not divulge further details at this time.
Oregon’s Measure 11 requires that teens aged 15 to 17 charged with attempted murder be prosecuted as adults in circuit court, Hummel said.
The pair were arraigned Friday on the DA’s initial allegations, called an information, and are being held at the county’s juvenile detention facility. Hummel said the case will go to a grand jury before their expected next court hearing on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
The DA’s information lists three initial charges against the teens — attempted murder, criminal conspiracy and second-degree assault — and said they plotted to kill the boy’s mother, Shasta Ortwein, “by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon.”
Two neighbors told NewsChannel 21 late Monday that the weapons used were a baseball bat and pepper spray.
They said Dakota was a good kid and that they never dreamed he would try to kill his mother.
They said the southwest Redmond neighborhood is usually quiet, so when several police cars arrived in their front yard last Thursday, they knew something was wrong.
“They brought Dakota out in handcuffs, and I just couldn’t believe that something (bad) was happening,” said Cherell Evans. “Then they brought Shasta out, and she was really shocked and crying and hurt.”
Evans said she and police helped Ortwein wash the pepper spray out of her eyes before she went to the hospital.
The neighbors also said they are here for the Ortwein family and hope they can support them through this devastating time.
