A teenager involved in the horrific murder of an innocent mother during a home invasion has complained about being moved to an adult prison.
Caya Lenay, in his early 20s, was moved from the Department of Children, Youth and Families’ Green Hill facility to an adult facility due to overcrowding.
The convicted killer, who was involved in the death of Julie Knechtel, 54, in December 2017 when she was 15, said he felt his safety had been “betrayed”.
“Why should our rehabilitation, our safety, our programming and all of that be taken away and overlooked simply because of one mistake that they neglected?” he said. Fox 13 in a call from prison.
“Why should this responsibility fall on us?” she continued. “I feel that we should all have had the opportunity to be heard, to present ourselves and to talk about our achievements.”
Caya Lenay (pictured), in his 20s, was moved from DCYF’s Green Hill facility to an adult facility because of overcrowding. “Why should our rehabilitation, our safety, our programming and all of that be taken away and overlooked simply because of one mistake that they neglected?” he said.
Lenay was involved in the death of Julie Knechtel, 54 (pictured), in December 2017, at the age of 15.
Lenay recently graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from Centralia College, 85 miles south of Seattle.
He received honors from Phi Theta Kappa, President’s List, Capital Classroom, and Made Men, according to The chronic.
More than 40 young adults who participated in the juvenile program (where the state allows those incarcerated for serious crimes as children to remain in juvenile facilities until age 25) were transferred without notice to an adult facility.
Lenay and 10 other inmates were moved to the same facility, which was not identified, after Green Hill reached 30 percent of its recommended capacity earlier this month, according to Fox 13.
DCYF announced earlier this month that neither Echo Green nor Green Hill would accept new inmates due to overcrowding.
“They didn’t bother to find a solution to the overpopulation and the situations they had to face. So I don’t think that should be on our shoulders,” said Lenay, who was seen wearing a Gucci on his Facebook page, he told Fox 13.
Lenay (left) recently graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from Centralia College, located approximately 85 miles south of Seattle. He received honors from Phi Theta Kappa, President’s List, Capital Classroom, and Made Men.
More than 40 young adults who participated in the youth program were transferred without warning to an adult facility. Lenay (pictured at graduation) and 10 other inmates were transferred to the same facility.
The inmates were not informed before the transfer that they would be moved to an adult facility and were not allowed to call home for safety reasons. For many of them, the sudden transfer came as a surprise.
Prisoners were handcuffed and strip searched before being moved.
All of the inmates selected were over the age of 18 and would have been transferred to an adult facility at the age of 25, Fox 13 said.
But Lenay – who has written two memoirs about his past titled Living by the Sword – is frustrated by the situation because he said he enrolled in Washington state’s rehabilitation program only to be forced to leave early.
Lenay (pictured in 2018), along with four other teenagers, was involved in the murder of Knechtel in December 2017, 20 days before Lenay’s 16th birthday.
DCYF, which was sued two years ago for transferring inmates early, said it was aware it was breaking the agreement reached in that case by transferring prisoners without notice.
The agency argued that this situation warranted special circumstances and therefore did not require it to follow the agreement, which requires a review board, notification of movement and contact with an attorney before the transfer, according to Fox 13.
“The internal review process that’s underway is really about individual behavior and individual incidents,” said Allison Krutsinger, DCYF’s director of public affairs.
‘This transfer really took into account the conditions of the entire facility and the entire JR population, and the decision was made under a different set of justifications around the conditions of the entire facility and safety.’
DCYF announced earlier this month that neither Echo Green nor Green Hill (pictured) would accept new inmates due to overcrowding.
Attorney Sarah Nagy, who filed a court order on behalf of the 43 transferred inmates, argued that “due process requirements” “apply.”
“That’s what all these kids should have had, and none of them got any of that,” he told Fox 13.
The court order, which was heard by a judge on Friday, requests that the inmates be transferred again within seven days.
Lenay, along with four other teenagers, was involved in the murder of Knechtel in December 2017, 20 days before Lenay’s 16th birthday, according to Heraldic Network.
The teens went to rob Knechtel at the Village Green Mobile Home Park around 5 a.m. She was shot in the heart and lungs as she tried to help her 17-year-old son, who was also shot.
The Lynnwood native pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in adult court in October 2018 and was sentenced to 11 years.
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