Jarod T. Lane, 19, of Renton, who fled 2,000 miles to Oklahoma City, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Jessica Scholl, a Lindbergh High junior.
Jessica’s death Friday morning at her home was ruled a homicide Tuesday by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. She died of multiple injuries to the head and neck, according to the medical examiner.
Lane, who is Jessica’s former boyfriend, also was charged with first-degree arson. Investigators say he set fire to a couch in the Scholl house on Southeast 164th Street, around the corner from Lindbergh.
Renton Police investigators submitted probable-cause documents to the King County Prosecutor’s Office Tuesday.
Two Renton Police detectives, Keith Hansen and Steve Morris, arrived in Oklahoma City Tuesday morning. They’ve interviewed Lane, finding him “cooperative,” said Renton Police Detective Robert Onishi, a Police Department spokesman.
Morris and Hansen also are processing the car Lane drove to Oklahoma for evidence.
Onishi said investigators had enough information to recommend charges against Lane without first interviewing him, based on evidence collected at the Scholl house.
Lane was arrested in Oklahoma City on Monday. He’s being held in an Oklahoma jail on $2 million bail.
Lane on Tuesday also waived extradition, which means arrangements can be made to return him to Washington state to face the charges against him. The details of how to return are being worked out, said Onishi. When Lane returns is uncertain, but early next week is a possibility, he said.
Arraignment is currently scheduled for 9 a.m. June 11 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
