Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – As expected, authorities have gone public with further information about the missing Kayla Croft-Payne.

Earlier this week, law enforcement revealed they believed she died in northern Cowlitz County about the time she went missing. They said they had recently been looking for her body in Oregon.

Kayla Croft-Payne

Yesterday, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office revealed they believe she died from an overdose and that it happened in an RV park in their county.

The then-18-year-old Lewis County resident was reported missing in early May of 2010.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has investigated the case over the course of the past five years and conducted numerous interviews of people that have knowledge of the case.

In a news release issued yesterday, Cowlitz County indicated the new information that got them to this point was obtained by Lewis County investigators. The suspected location of the death prompted the transfer of the case to Cowlitz detectives.

The new and credible information passed along to them included that Croft-Payne’s body was transported to a remote and heavily wooded area in Oregon and concealed, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.

The (Longview) Daily News reports detectives believe she was buried in northwestern Oregon, and it was because people were scared of notifying authorities and didn’t know what to do.

In yesterday’s news release, Cowlitz authorities stated that detectives from the two counties have conducted multiple extensive searches over the past six weeks in Oregon.

No human remains were found.

“Out of respect to the current property owners, we are not describing the area where Kayla is believed to be located,” the sheriff’s office wrote in its news release.

Early in the investigation, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said the last place they could verify her spending time was a trailer park in the Toutle area. Among their theories early on, was that she died of a drug overdose.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office is still looking for further information from anyone who knows something.

They offered up numerous ways to contact them.

Detective Cory Robinson and Sgt. Brad Thurman can be reached at 360-577-3092.

Callers who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers of Cowlitz County at 360-577-1206. People can also give tips by texting 847411 and downloading “CCSOTip”.
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For background, read “Law enforcement: ‘Credible report’ the missing Kayla Croft-Payne died in Cowlitz County” from Tuesday November 17, 2015, here

Kristina M. Auckland sits at the defense table during her bail hearing.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A counselor at Cedar Creek Corrections Center has been arrested for allegedly spending nights at a Centralia motel with a former inmate, including the day he was released from prison.

Kristina M. Auckland, 31, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree custodial sexual misconduct. Centralia police arrested her yesterday.

Prosecutors say the inmate was supervised by Auckland during his stay at the Littlerock facility and that even after his release, she would have influence over his treatment during his period of community custody.

The 33-year-old man was released from confinement on Oct. 18, 10 days early upon her recommendation, prosecutors allege.

The case came under investigation after another employee of the state Department of Corrections saw the two together on Saturday at the Motel 6, according to charging documents.

The former inmate when interviewed yesterday told detectives the relationship was completely consensual, the documents state. He showed investigators text messages in which they both said loving things to each other.

It’s unlawful for an employee of a correctional agency to have sexual intercourse with someone who is an inmate or is under correctional supervision, if the defendant has or the victim believes they have, the ability to influence terms of their incarceration or supervision. First-degree custodial sexual misconduct has a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

A Centralia police detective confiscated both of their phones.

When Auckland was brought before a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court, a defense attorney shared information for the purposes of influencing the amount of bail, and to show the defendant appeared to qualify for a court-appointed lawyer.

The Castle Rock woman brings home about $2,400 each month and her husband works at Home Depot, wages that support them and their three children, according to attorney Joely O’Rourke.

She has a letter indicating she has been put on paid leave from her job, O’Rourke said.

Prosecutors noted Auckland has no felony convictions in her past.

Judge Nelson Hunt allowed her to be released pending trial on a $25,000 unsecured bond.

He declined a request from the state for a sexual assault protection order, saying he would only order it if the victim wanted it. Auckland is prohibited from contacting witnesses through the standard conditions of release.

Attorney Shane O’Rourke was appointed to represent her. Her arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 3.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A man deer hunting just outside the Centralia city limits was arrested yesterday after one of several rounds he fired burst through the window of a house, traveling through a bookcase, a wall and across a hallway, lodging inside a closet where it shattered a six-pack of prune juice.

A couple in their mid-70s who were home at the time were unhurt.

Deputies were called about 7:40 a.m. by the residents who indicated a bullet had just been fired into their house, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

They contacted 62-year-old Royce R. Larson who said he was hunting, had killed a deer but did not realize there was a home there, according to the sheriff’s office.

The incident happened at the 100 block of Summerside Drive, near the northwest edge of town.

“Yeah, scary stuff,” Lewis County sheriff’s Cmdr. Dusty Breen said. “That’s why one of the foremost safety rules is be aware of what your target is and what’s beyond.”

Larson was issued a citation for reckless endangerment, his rifle was seized and and then he was released, according to Breen.

It’s something that’s happened a handful of times in his time with the sheriff’s office, Breen said.

Later in the day, it happened again in central Lewis County.

A 52-year-old woman inadvertently shot through a bathroom window striking a refrigerator in a Mossyrock area kitchen.

Deputies were called at about 4:30 p.m. to the 100 block of Bear Ridge Road near the western edge of Riffe Lake after a 55-year-old found the damage, according to the sheriff’s office. It was inside an apartment he’d built in a shop building, according to Breen.

Karen L. McDougall was contacted and said she’d been trying to shoot a deer. In speaking with her, it became clear she was the one who fired rounds in the direction of the victim’s property, but did not realize she was putting persons or property at risk, Breen said.

The Mossyrock woman too was arrested for reckless endangerment, issued her citation and a date for court and then released, according to Breen. Her firearm was also confiscated.

There wasn’t anything else illegal about what the two had done, according to Breen.

It’s Lewis County, you’ve got rural areas, he said.

“Both seemed like normal good citizens, who just exercised bad judgement,” he said. “That’s why they weren’t booked.”

Sasha A. Morgan, in red, consults with a lawyer, while her co-defendant Jesse R. Bartley, far left, waits his turn to go before the judge for their bail hearings.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – While she was arrested for first-degree assault, 29-year-old Sasha A. Morgan was charged the following day with second-degree assault, in connection with a stabbing incident in Centralia.

Morgan was brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday afternoon, where her bail was set at $20,000.

Court documents indicate the victim, a 34-year-old Tacoma man, was stabbed two times in the leg.

Morgan told police it was self defense.

Centralia police yesterday described the incident as related to a failed drug transaction.

According to charging documents and police, officers were called at mid-morning on Tuesday to  a disturbance at the 600 block of South Silver Street where they spoke with Morgan, her companion Jesse R. Bartley and the victim.

The victim, Jamie Zurinskas, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital for treatment of his wounds.

According to the victim, he gave $20 to Bartley who said he and Morgan could get him some methamphetamine but they never came back so he went looking for them.

Charging documents go on the give the following general account:

Zurinskas found Bartley and Morgan in their car, pounded on the window and Bartley got out and said he would make it right.

One version of the story includes yelling, arguing, and an aggressive movement which caused Bartley and Morgan to fall to the ground.

At one point, Morgan told an officer, she ended up on the bottom of the pile of a fight, so she pulled out a knife and stabbed Zurinskas  twice.

Morgan and Bartley allegedly had consumed the meth meant for Zurinskas.

Police collected a knife with a bloody four-inch blade and also recovered from the car a scraper baggie with white crystal residue, plus two glass pipes.

Bartley, 25, and Morgan were both charged with conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. Morgan was charged also with second-degree assault, with a deadly weapon enhancement.

Both offenses hold maximum penalties of 10 years in prison.

Bartley, said by police to be transient but by a defense attorney yesterday to be from Winlock, has no felony criminal history, only convictions for driving with a suspended license. His bail was set at $10,000.

Morgan, who lives in Tacoma is formerly of Centralia.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meager told the jude she has prior convictions for residential burglary, forgery and theft of rental property, and because of the knife allegation, presented a community safety risk regarding release.

Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke pointed out the judge Morgan’s crimes are at least five years in the past. Morgan’s mother and father attended the hearing.

O’Rourke asked the Judge Nelson Hunt to allow Morgan to be released from jail pending trial on a $10,000 unsecured bond, which her father would co-sign.

Hunt declined.

“She is a drug court former participant, I know quite a bit about her,” he said. “She is a risk to community safety.”

Both qualified for a court-appointed lawyer, and their arraignments were on the court calendar for today.
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For background, read “News brief: Fight over meth sale leads to assault with knife” from Wednesday November 18, 2015, here