A teenage boy suspected in a 2015 violent residential burglary and the assault of a staff member at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center during an escape attempt pleaded guilty Monday.
Roy James Thompson Jr., 16, of Vancouver pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to attempted second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, custodial assault and attempted second-degree escape. He was remanded to adult court for the incidents, which occurred in April and May 2015.
Thompson, then 15, and a co-defendant broke into an east Vancouver home April 29 and assaulted and robbed a 65-year-old Buddhist nun who lived there. The co-defendant, Vincent R. Burnett, 30, entered guilty pleas last month.
In his guilty statement, Thompson wrote that Burnett struck the victim with a crowbar but acknowledged a jury could find he was an accomplice. During his hearing, Burnett said Thompson was the one who assaulted the victim.
In the escape attempt May 9, Thompson struck a staff member with a chair while a second offender attempted to break a window. That boy, 16-year-old Daniel Robert Coffman of Washougal, was sentenced in May to more than a year in a juvenile institution.
On Monday, Thompson entered an Alford plea to attempted second-degree murder, which allows a defendant to argue his innocence but admit there’s enough evidence that he could be found guilty, and guilty pleas to the other three charges. The prosecution agreed to dismiss several additional charges against Thompson in exchange for his pleas. It also will not ask for a longer-than-normal sentence.
Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said he will recommend Thompson serve 238.5 months in prison, which includes two deadly-weapon enhancements that will each tack on 24 months. Sentencing is set for April 28.
Thompson’s Vancouver defense attorney, Nick Wood, said he will argue for a lesser sentence.
