Dori: Widow of hit-and-run victim worries lenient juvenile court judge will go easy again

The widow of a Maple Valley runner killed in a hit-and-run told The Dori Monson Show she is “nervous” because her late husband’s alleged 15-year-old assailant is going before a King County Juvenile Court judge with a history of lenient sentencing.

Michelle Moore confirmed that Judge Averil Rothrock is presiding over the case of a SeaTac girl who allegedly struck her husband, Greg Moore, as a “prank” while driving at least 50 miles per hour in July 2021.

Rothrock is the same judge who released two teens to “house arrest” and electronic monitoring devices earlier this month after a violent Federal Way pawn shop robbery. Days later, after cutting off their ankle bracelets, the boys are alleged to have robbed and murdered Tacoma pot shop worker Jordan Brown.

The suspect in Moore’s husband’s death also faces another felony hit-and-run and second-degree assault charge after video emerged of the girl allegedly striking an unidentified pedestrian with a car in Des Moines. The video shows the teen laughing with a friend during the second incident.

Concerning to Moore? Rothrock chose to ignore King County prosecutors who asked her to place 15- and 16-year-old boys in juvenile detention in connection with a Federal Way pawn shop robbery and pistol-whipping. Detectives believe the teens are connected to several other armed robberies of cannabis dispensaries in the region, as well.

Rothrock also presided over the case of Alrick Hollingsworth, who was convicted of shooting five people – some of them randomly – near downtown Seattle’s Pike and Pine streets on Third Avenue during an evening rush-hour in 2016. Shortly after her 2018 appointment by Gov. Jay Inslee, Rothrock sentenced Hollingsworth, by then 20 years old, to nine years in prison – reducing the discretionary part of his sentence by almost half.

Hear Dori’s Friday report about the teens’ alleged crime spree here

Moore, whose husband’s body was found in a ditch after being struck on an early Sunday morning last summer, told Dori the judge’s pattern worries her.

“When I read my system in front of Judge Rothrock, that was at my husband’s killer’s detention hearing, she did not end up granting her (the teen suspect’s) release with an ankle bracelet, but she made it very clear to the court that she wanted to,” Michelle Moore told Dori and his listeners. “She made it very clear that she was working for the best interest of the child/murderer. And she encouraged the defense to get their ducks in a row and reapply for her release.”

The teen arrested in Greg Moore’s death is being tried in juvenile court. KIRO Newsradio does not typically publish the name of suspected criminals who are minors.

“Yeah, I’m nervous,” Michelle Moore continued. “I’m hoping that the way this young man (Jordan Brown) tragically lost his life and all the attention you’re bringing to this situation – I hope that has an effect.

“She (Rothrock) should be held accountable for that young man’s death in some capacity,” Moore added. “She allowed it to happen. (It could be) the same thing if my husband’s murderer gets out and does it again.”

With all the evidence against the teen girl being held in her husband’s death, Moore believes “it seems like a cut-and-dry case – but if she (Rothrock) chooses to do what she has historically done, yeah, I’m very concerned.”

Listen to Dori’s interview with Maple Valley widow Michelle Moore here

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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