Teen sentenced to juvenile detention for killing man who paid her for sex

A 16-year-old girl who fatally stabbed a Kent man after he hired her for sex last spring was sentenced this morning to between 103 and 129 weeks in juvenile detention.

In a deal with King County prosecutors, the girl had pleaded guilty to manslaughter is exchange for a sentence of less than three years in state juvenile detention. The plea came after a mental-health evaluation, attorney negotiations and a months-long delay in the decision on whether to prosecute the teen as a juvenile or adult.

The girl is not being named because she was prosecuted as a juvenile.

Prosecutors said there is a possibility that the victim had attacked or threatened the girl, who was 15 at the time of the stabbing.

The girl did not speak during her sentencing hearing, but her older sister asked the court to be lenient.

"I hope she can be provided with the services she needs and move on her with life," the woman told Juvenile Court Judge LeRoy McCullough.

Jeanette Pena, the ex-wife of victim Francisco "Noe" Pena, told the girl, "you took my best friend of 26 years. I don't think you understand what you have done ... He was a very good man."

Pena, 49, died of a single stab wound to the chest at his Kent home. The father of two had found the girl through a referral and picked her up at about 8 p.m. on April 4 in front of a Burien grocery store, according to court documents.

Later that night, Pena's neighbor called 911 to report that a girl was pounding on his door. Police found the girl bleeding after having stuck her fist through a window. According to the police report, she was drunk and belligerent and had to be restrained.

On April 8, a co-worker of Pena's called police after he became concerned about his absence.

Pena was found dead in his garage, his body concealed by a garbage can and lawnmower, according to charging papers. A bloody knife found near the body had the girl's fingerprints on it, according to the documents.

When questioned later, the girl said she couldn't remember much, claiming she had blacked out after drinking alcohol. She recalled being hired by Pena and later got into a fight with him when he would not let her leave without having sex.

Finally, she told police that Pena might have had something "sharp" in his hands when he grabbed her. She also said that she "might have stuck him" with a knife, according to court documents.

The girl had several encounters with law enforcement over prostitution and had placed an ad on Craigslist for sex services, but she had never before been charged with prostitution, prosecutors said. The girl has nearly a dozen criminal cases on her juvenile record, dating back to when she was 13, for assault, theft, malicious mischief and stealing a car.

The girl's maternal grandmother said in an interview that the girl struggled with a difficult childhood and had mental and dependency problems that were never addressed by the juvenile courts system.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.