Second teen pleads guilty for lying to police about shooting of Centralia 13-year-old
Another juvenile has pleaded guilty to a felony charge in connection with the death of Centralia 13-year-old Jaden Krauss.
A 13-year-old pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice charge Wednesday for lying to police during the investigation into Krauss’ death and was sentenced to five years of probation with several other conditions.
According to WJBD-FM in Salem, the teen admitted to lying to police about removing the gun that killed Krauss from the home in which he was killed. As part of a plea agreement, a second charge of felony obstruction was dropped.
Krauss was killed by a 15-year-old who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter late last month inside of a Centralia home. He was sentenced to up to 5 years in juvenile detention.
Testimony from the three teens who were with Krauss when he died revealed the 15-year-old was playing an altered game of Russian Roulette, in which one person pointed the gun at himself first and the other teens, pulling the trigger once until the only bullet discharged. This continued until eventually Krauss was shot.
Afterward, Krauss’ body was moved and there was an attempt to clean the crime scene that included moving the 13-year-old’s body down a flight of stairs and onto the home’s front porch.
The gun still has not been located, but Kory Smith, the Marion County Assistant State’s Attorney, presented a probable cause statement that indicated the juvenile took the gun from the home and later dropped or buried it in a nearby lake.
His sentence includes 100 hours of public service, home confinement with GPS monitoring, no access to firearms or ammunition and to have no contact with Krauss’ mother, Jaianna Grant, or the two other teens involved in the case.
The 13-year-old’s mother, Nicole Kirgan, is also currently in Marion County Jail for obstruction of justice and harassing a witness after her release.
A third teen, Kirgan’s other son, also was charged for obstruction of justice for lying to police about Krauss’ death. He was sentenced to the juvenile department of corrections until his 21st birthday for a burglary to an area school, Southern Illinois Now reported this month.