EPHRATA, Wash. – A man who killed an Ephrata teen when he was 12-years-old is now back in jail after he escaped on Sunday.
Jake Eakin, 25, was convicted of murdering 13-year old special education student Craig Sorger back in 2005. He and Evan Savoie, 12, were the youngest kids in Washington history to be tried as adults at the time.
Eakin failed to show up to his work release program in Yakima on Sunday. He was arrested in South Dakota on Tuesday, according to the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC). Ephrata residents were frightened when they heard he had escaped.
“It's just about as terrible today as when it happened,” Lori Stokes said, who is a family friend of the Sorger’s.
The death of Sorger rocked the town of Ephrata when it happened in 2003. Sorger’s body was found in an Ephrata park. The body had been beaten and stabbed more than 30 times.
KREM 2 spoke to Lisa Sorger, mother of Craig, on the phone and she said Eakin’s escape bright back memories of how difficult this tragedy was on both the community and her family.
“I just remember the tragedy of it and Chuck and Lisa and their family yeah it was terrible,” Stokes said.
Stokes said the Sorger family was never the same after the murder and it destroyed them. When the news came out about Eakin’s escape, Stokes was shocked he was even allowed out of the prison.
“I thought what the heck is he doing on work release?” Stokes said. “And not being monitored better.”
Eakin was scheduled to be released in September 2016 but could now face more charges from his escape, according to the Washington (DOC). Officials said he will likely not be put back on work release.