Teens To Learn If They Will Be Charged As Adults Next Week In Connection With West Sacramento Slaying
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Two teens accused of fatally shooting 16-year-old West Sacramento girl Samatha Farris during an alleged marijuana sale will learn Monday whether they will be tried as adults.
The shooting happened on the evening Saturday, January 4, along the Clarksburg Trail, just behind River City High School in West Sacramento.
A hole from one of the bullets pierced the kitchen window of a West Sacramento family's home, while the family, which includes four young children, were inside.
Cassie O'Keefe lives just down the street from the trail. She was home too, watching football with her son.
"I heard the gunshots around that evening, not really having known what happened," said O'Keefe.
Two teenagers are now accused of being involved in the shooting that took her life. Another 16-year-old-girl is under investigation for her involvement in the shooting.
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O'Keefe, who runs on the Clarksburg Trail every day, hadn't been back, until Thursday.
"I got half a block away, and I just started tearing up. It's tough to know you can't always protect your kids even though you want to," she said.
She didn't know Farris but spruced up her memorial at the scene anyway. O'Keefe says this could have been anyone's kids.
"Sometimes they're just at the wrong place at the wrong time," she said.
Farris' friends gathered at the memorial on Thursday wearing matching shirts in her honor.
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"This is really hard for the community. For everyone. My kids walk by here every day," said O'Keefe.
She says there are no cameras, no lights and no one watching the trail between her neighborhood and River City High School.
"Good for the kids who are trying to hide things, bad for the parents who are trying to keep their kids safe," she said.
She says this is now a tragic reminder of needed change, too late for this life cut short.
"I would hope that West Sacramento will take this as a wake-up call to really scout these trails," she said.
CBS13 expects to learn whether those minors will be tried as adults on Monday. Since Prop 57 passed in 2016, a judge will make that decision, not the district attorney.