Man charged in drowning of teen in Wash. lake

Snohomish County prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old gang member with first-degree murder in the drowning of a 17-year-old Seattle girl whose body was found floating in Lake Ballinger last month.

Robert Langendoerfer was charged Friday in Superior Court. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Langendoerfer is accused of drowning Galindez by holding her underwater for five minutes.

Three witnesses told Mountlake Terrace police Britney Galindez was choked, stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver and then thrown into Lake Ballinger. They say she tried to swim away from her attacker, but he waded in after her to finish her off.

Witnesses told police Langendoerfer got angry with Galindez after she threw up next to him in a car after a night of drinking. A court document says he told one witness he was upset that she was disrespecting him.

Galindez's body was found floating in the lake Oct. 21. She had been reported missing two days earlier.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com