Two defendants charged with the murder of a 19-year-old man in Auburn on July 6 pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Friday morning.

The King County Prosecutor has accused Dylan Mullins, 19, and Sebastian Gregg, 17, of murdering Michael Clayton and setting fire to his home on the morning of July 6. Both pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, first-degree arson and first-degree burglary.

A case setting hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7.

Gregg is charged as an adult under Washington State’s automatic adult jurisdiction law, which allows for prosecution in adult court for 16 and 17-year-olds who are accused of serious, violent offenses.

Auburn Police say the two teens lay in wait for hours in the home 19-year-old Jerry “Mike” Clayton shared with his father, Mickey, at 29659 142nd Ave. SE on July 6 and shot him dead. And that they torched the house to cover the crime, and then with weapons they had taken from the home fled in a truck stolen from the City of Kent. Police caught up with them in Grays Harbor County.

According to police, Mullins and Gregg freely admitted to having killed Clayton in retaliation for Clayton’s having beaten up Mullins.