A 16-year-old boy made a first appearance Thursday in Clark County Superior Court on a murder charge stemming from a 2018 botched drug robbery in Hazel Dell. The hearing followed the negotiation of an agreement with prosecutors to move his case from juvenile to adult court.
Oriley J. Huynh was facing first-degree murder and robbery and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in Clark County Juvenile Court. The murder charge carried a sentencing range of anywhere from 180 weeks up until age 21.
Following a “decline hearing” Tuesday to determine whether juvenile court should decline to prosecute and send the case to superior court, prosecutors agreed to move the case and amend Huynh’s charges to a single count of second-degree murder. Absent the agreement, Huynh would have faced a sentencing range of 310 to 393 months in adult court.
Huynh wore shackles as he was escorted into the courtroom separate from the adult inmates. He said nothing beyond confirming his birthday and the spelling of his name.
Judge Suzan Clark kept Huynh’s bail at $2 million, the same amount set in juvenile court. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Feb. 13.
At the time of his arrest, co-defendants Tristan Alexander Cienfuegos, 16, and Terrance J. Busby, 18, were similarly charged in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Gage Allan Kiser.
Cienfuegos previously pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and was sentenced in juvenile court to remain behind bars until age 21. Busby was convicted of first-degree robbery and sentenced to a range of 3½ to six years in a juvenile facility.
The three boys planned to rob Kiser of marijuana Dec. 10, 2018, but their plot turned deadly when Huynh shot the Vancouver teen multiple times, prosecutors say. Kiser left behind a daughter, according to his mother Debra Cook, as well as four siblings.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies and medics were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. to Pacific 63 Center, 6204 N.E. Highway 99, following multiple reports of a shooting. The shopping center is home to a number of businesses including a muffler shop and a martial arts studio.
Witnesses pulled Kiser from his still-running Jeep and attempted CPR before first responders arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
Kiser was struck by gunfire four times. An autopsy found he had entry wounds in his left shoulder and two in his back, and an exit wound on the right side of his chest, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Huynh’s case.
Court records identified Cienfuegos as the marijuana buyer, Huynh as the shooter and Busby as the getaway driver. Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said in a hearing last year that he reviewed the evidence and determined Huynh was the most culpable.
