SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A man convicted of shooting and killing a 15-year-old boy in Spokane Valley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, Spokane Superior Court found Stephen Yohler guilty on these four counts in November 2023:
- First-degree aggravated murder
- First-degree murder with aggravating circumstances
- First-degree conspiracy to commit murder
- Tampering with a witness
Yohler shot University High School freshman Preston Grzogorek outside of a Spokane Valley apartment in 2021.
Preston received a message over Snapchat in March 2021 from his friend, then 17-year-old Daisy Redthunder. Court documents show she wanted to buy a vape pen and lured him out of a Spokane Valley apartment. Redthunder. wasn't there, but her boyfriend, Yohler, was and shot Grzogorek to death.
Yohler and his girlfriend were arrested in May 2021.
Yohler maintained his innocence for years, even during a jailhouse interview with KREM.
"If there was surveillance video that showed me at the crime, they would have had me a lot sooner than a month and a half ago," Yohler told KREM 2.
Police said Yohler told his girlfriend he shot Preston six times and claimed the 15-year-old was going to kill him and had put money on his head.
Yohler was sentenced on July 25, 2024.