The younger cousin and alleged accomplice of the man the King County Prosecutor has charged with setting a number of the fires that shook Auburn between last September and early January will not be charged as an adult.
“The case will remain in Juvenile Court,” Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s Office, said of Jesse McGrath, 16, who entered a not guilty plea to two charges of second-degree arson at his arraignment in Juvenile Court on Jan 22.
One of the charges references a fire last July at 1132 32nd Place NE at which the younger McGrath was allegedly present, which pushes the date of the onset of the fires back two months.
A case setting hearing is March 10 in King County Juvenile Court.
Police arrested Michael McGrath, 22, on Jan. 14, and he, according to the police account, subsequently admitted to having set the two fires in January and provided information about a third fire that police did not know about at the time.
According to the account, Michael McGrath admitted that during several of the fires, his cousin, Jesse McGrath, had been present, and that he had also lit several fires.
On Jan. 15, according to the police account, police arrested Jesse McGrath, whereupon he confirmed that he had set fires with his cousin on several occasions. Specifically, according to the police account, Jesse McGrath admitted to having lit up a flag that was mounted on the front of an occupied home on Sept. 20, at 1911 M St. NE., and a real estate sign on Sept. 19, at 1501 M St. NE.
“Additionally, during his interview,” according to the police account, “Jesse admitted to being present during two fires that Michael lit. Jesse stated that he acted as a lookout at two vacant homes, one located at 2012 K St. NE., and one at 1132 32nd Place NE.”
According to the police account, officers at the younger McGrath’s interview presented him with a map of Auburn and pointed out those two residences listed immediately above, and “he stated that the 3012 K St NE fire occurred just prior to or around January 2015, and the 1132 32nd Place NE fire occurred in the summertime around July 2015.”
After the interview, according to the police account, investigators went to those addresses and confirmed that there had been fire damage.
