05:31 PM PDT on Thursday, May 11, 2006

KING Staff and Wire Reports

KING

Left to right: Jarrelle Marshall, Daniel Harris, Cyril Waldrond.

TACOMA - For anyone who watched the arraignment of Mount Tahoma High School students Daniel Harris, 18, Cyril Walrond, 17, and Jarrelle Marshall, 16, it’s hard to believe they are charged with first degree murder and first-degree burglary in two separate attacks.

"It wasn't my nephew or his friends," said Marcella Edwards, Marshall's aunt.

“The charges won’t stick,” said his uncle, Malcolm Nichols. "He just don't have that mentality. He's a good kid."

But charging papers paint a disturbing and detailed picture of the three teens.

Prosecutors say on April 20 at Les Davis Pier, Waldron attacked Carl Schmidt from behind, striking him hard on his head with a sheet rock hammer. Marshall acted as a lookout, while Harris went through Schmidt’s car and stole several items.

Prosecutors say an hour later, the three targeted Dien Huynh when the 55-year-old walked outside his home. Walrond ran him down and repeatedly struck him in the head with a hammer.

The teens stole cash and credit cards.

A relative found Huynh about five hours later on the front porch. He died two nights later at Tacoma General Hospital.

The documents say the teens said they committed the crimes "because they wanted money."

Charging papers say in Waldronds' bedroom, police found newspaper articles about the crimes and an article describing the robbery and beating death of 69-year-old Darrel Johnson that occurred in Tacoma in January of 2005.

The documents also say Harris had Schmidt's baseball hat hanging on his wall "like a souvenir."

Tacoma schools spokeswoman Patti Holmgren said all three teens are well-known students at Mount Tahoma.

Holmgren said Harris and Walrond, both seniors, had earned Washington State Achievers scholarships. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation offers the program to eligible students at 16 Achievers High Schools; the scholarships average about $5,000 each year for four years.

Holmgren said all three teens played football and ran track. She said Walrond planned to attend the University of Washington and was recently elected African American Pageant Prince for the student body's annual festivities.

Bail has been set for each of the teens at $1 million. They have all been charged as adults.

Their next court date is in two weeks.