Harrah man pleads guilty to killing teen near Toppenish in 2022

 Harrah man pleads guilty to killing teen near Toppenish in 2022

A 19-year-old Harrah man will be sentenced in federal court in late March after pleading guilty to killing a 15-year-old girl near Toppenish in 2022.

Silaz Elijah James entered a guilty plea to charges of second-degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in U.S. District Court on Jan. 9. In return for his plea, prosecutors dropped two charges of discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

Neither side recommended a sentence to Judge Mary K. Dimke, according to the plea agreement, but recommended that James serve five years on probation after his release from prison.

Dimke, the agreement said, is not bound by its terms when setting sentence. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 26.

James pleaded guilty to shooting Anita Lucei at a home in the 700 block of Nation Street just outside Toppenish city limits April 13, 2022.

Yakima County sheriff’s deputies were called to the home around 4 p.m. for a report of a shooting. Deputies performed first aid on the girl until an ambulance took her to what is now MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital, where she died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to authorities.

The FBI took over the investigation because she and James were Yakama Nation citizens and Anita was killed on the Yakama Reservation.

Investigators said James and Anita were arguing over money when James shot her once in the chest. As he was being driven from the scene, James fired two shots at people outside the house, missing them, according to the plea agreement.

James subsequently destroyed the gun, the document said.

Anita’s killing was one of three investigated by the FBI in Yakima County, and one of 36 countywide.