Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office announced a level three registered sex offender in Lewis County who left for a short time returned to his Mossyrock area home.

Dale G. DeHaven, 53, is living on the 100 block of Winston Creek Road.

DeHaven is not wanted by law enforcement, but notification to the community is meant to inform the public and enhance public safety, according to the sheriff’s office.

DeHaven was released from prison in 2005 after a 1993 conviction for the violent sexual assault of an 8-year-old female who was the daughter of a casual acquaintance, according to sheriff’s detective Jamey McGinty. The conviction was first-degree child rape.

Before that, he served time in prison in connection with the violent assault of a 76-year-old neighbor woman, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office designated him as a level three sex offender, meaning they believe he has a high risk to reoffend.

DeHaven is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes.

To see more details from the bulletin and a photo of DeHaven, visit the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office web site level three sex offender page, here.

Questions? The sheriff’s office says call 360-748-9286 for detective McGinty or Chief Criminal Deputy Gene Seiber.
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To search for registered sex offenders living within a specified radius from your home, work or school, visit the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Offender Watch page, here.  There, you can also find safety tips and other information, as well as register to receive email alerts if a new offender registers with an address near you. The same link can always be found on the sidebar of Lewis County Sirens.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a partial human skull found by a hiker on Saturday near Mineral.

Detectives, with help from members of Lewis County Search and Rescue, are continuing to search the wooded area for potential evidence, according to a news release this morning.

The skull will be sent to a forensic pathologist for further examination, according to Chief Deputy Stacy Brown.

More to come

This news story was updated at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday March 30, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The death penalty is off the table for John Allen Booth Jr., a defendant in last August’s triple slaying inside a Salkum-Onalaska area home.

Booth, 31, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of David J. West Jr., 16, and Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle.

Deputies investigate off Gore Road on Aug. 21, 2010

He is also charged in the death of David J. West Sr. 52, and the non-fatal shooting of 51-year-old Denise Salts. He has pleaded not guilty.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer filed notice on Friday he will not seek the death penalty if Booth is convicted.

“After looking at everything, meeting with the family, looking at the case and talking with prosecutors inside and outside the office, I decided not to seek the death penalty,” Meyer said today.

Meyer declined to share what the victims’ family members thought of his decision, saying those are private conversations.

Previous Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden left the potential option open, but was voted out of office in November. Meyer, a former defense attorney, stepped into the elected position in January.

Booth’s attorney, James Dixon, said his client is pleased with the prosecutor’s decision, and anxious to proceed to trial.

Booth and former prison cell mate Ryan J. McCarthy, 29, of Redmond, are charged in the case.

Authorities have said they believe the two men’s Aug. 21 visit to the house on Wings Way off Gore Road was related to a drug debt collection.

Booth, a former Onalaska resident, is set for trial  the week of May 16, however, prosecutors have asked a judge to consolidate the two cases into one trial.

McCarthy’s trial is scheduled for the week of Oct. 10.

Dixon indicated he will oppose the motion.

“He has a right to a speedy trial,” Dixon said in an emailed note. “He has waived that right already, but that waiver does not extend to the date currently set for Mr. McCarthy’s trial.”

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Read background on the case:

• “West Sr. pointed shotgun telling pair of ex-cons to leave his house, triggering triple homicide, unsealed court documents allege” from Saturday Sept. 4, 2010, here
• “Unsealed document: More details on Salkum slayings” from Monday Sept. 6, 2010, here

Two trailer loads of chickens on their way to a processing plant overturned outside Centralia this morning / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff's Office

This was updated at 11:20 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A semi-truck carrying some 5,000 chickens rolled over this morning on Salzer Valley Road outside Centralia sending one man to the hospital and closing down the roadway temporarily.

Riverside Fire Authority called shortly after 8 a.m. to the wreck near Centralia-Alpha Road found the 22-year-old driver sustained minor injuries. He was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to fire Capt. Scott Snyder.

Some of the chickens escaped and some were not so fortunate, according to Snyder.

There were “quite a few” chickens all over the place, Snyder said.

“They’re going to be picked up by the farm and sorted out cause there were some fatalities I guess,” Snyder said.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reported numerous chickens died and the “several” injured poultry were to be taken away to be euthanized.

The Freightliner truck was hauling two trailers loaded with 26 crates of poultry, according to the sheriff’s office.

The birds were on their way from a farm on Schafer Road to a Foster farms processing plant in Kelso, Chief Deputy Stacy Brown reported.

The truck driver, a Kelso resident, failed to negotiate a corner and drove onto the soft shoulder which caused the truck to roll, according to Brown. He is expected to be cited for going too fast.

The semi belongs to Signature trucking.

Courtesy photo by the Lewis County Sheriff's Office

Courtesy photo by the Lewis County Sheriff's Office

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A flood watch is in effect for Lewis and other counties in Western Washington from tomorrow afternoon into Friday as expected heavy rain combines with rising freezing levels.

A warm and strong Pacific storm system will bring rain later tonight and is expected to stall over the area for 24 to 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service.

Counties under the flood watch include Lewis, Thurston, Mason, Pierce, Clallam, Jefferson, Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish and King counties.

A flood watch means conditions are favorable for flooding but it is not imminent or occurring. The weather service recommends folks monitor weather forecasts.