PORT ORCHARD — The teen accused in the rape and killing of a 6-year-old Washington girl has been charged with aggravated murder and aggravated rape.
The maximum potential penalty for the charges filed Friday against Gabriel Gaeta in Kitsap County Superior Court are life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
The 17-year-old has been held in the Kitsap County Juvenile Detention Center on $1 million bail since his arrest Aug. 9.
Jenise Wright’s body was found Aug. 7 after an intensive search involving hundreds of law enforcement officers and others. An FBI team found her body in woods near her Bremerton home.
Authorities say they linked evidence found near the girl’s body to the DNA of Gaeta, a high school wrestler with no criminal history.
