15-year-old boy charged in shooting deaths of parents, 3 siblings in Washington state

SEATTLE (AP) — A 15-year-old boy accused of killing his parents and three of his siblings this week east of Seattle tried to pin the slayings on his younger brother, but a sister who survived after playing dead escaped to a neighbor's house and told police who really carried out the shootings, authorities said in a court document made public Thursday.

The boy was charged Thursday in juvenile court with five counts of aggravated murder. Under Washington state law, a hearing is required before the case can be moved into adult court.

The 11-year-old sister who survived Monday's shooting told investigators that the defendant had recently gotten into trouble for failing tests at school, and that the handgun he used belonged to their father. Of all the children, she said, he was the only one who knew the code to the lock box their dad kept it in.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as Sarah Humiston, 42, Mark Humiston, 43, and their children Katheryn Humiston, 7, Joshua Humiston, 9, and Benjamin Humiston, 13.

According to an affidavit of probable cause by King County sheriff's detective Aaron Thompson, the defendant called 911 around 5 a.m. Monday to report that his 13-year-old brother had shot and killed their family at their home in Fall City because he had gotten in trouble for looking at pornography.

A neighbor a few minutes later called 911 saying the injured 11-year-old had come to the home reporting that her family had been shot by her 15-year-old brother and that she had played dead before escaping, the affidavit said.

Arriving deputies detained the 15-year-old in the driveway and found the bodies inside. The 11-year-old was treated at a hospital in Seattle and has since been released, a hospital spokesperson said.

The 15-year-old waived his right to appear in court on Tuesday, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. His defense attorneys said in court that he has no criminal history. His attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the charges Thursday.

The teen is scheduled to appear in court on Friday afternoon.

Mark Humiston worked as an electrical engineer with Hargis Engineers in Seattle.

“We are blindsided and saddened by the tragic events that have led to the loss of a respected colleague, mentor, and friend, as well as the loss of immediate family members," the company said in statement Thursday. "Mark’s leadership and vision were integral within our firm, and he will be greatly missed.”

FILE - Eight-year-old Vaughan Leveen, left, hands a candle to a King County Sheriff Deputy Amy Crawford before a candlelight vigil for the victims of the mass shooting a day before, in Fall City, Wash, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

FILE- Bouquets of flowers line a stone picnic table at a roadside park as a small memorial to the victims of a mass shooting the day before in Fall City, Wash., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

FILE - Pastor Carrie Bland, hand at left, uses her candle to light others during a candlelight vigil for the victims of the mass shooting a day before in Fall City, Wash., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

King County Superior Court Judge Joe Campagna, top left, speaks during a preliminary hearing for a suspect in the shooting deaths of five people at a home in Fall City, at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Seattle. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

FILE - Neighbors leave the scene of a fatal shooting Monday morning, Oct. 21, 2024, in Fall City, Wash. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

FILE -Police arrive on the scene of a shooting in Fall City, Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are falling on Wednesday following mixed profit reports from several big banks.

The S&P 500 sank 0.8% and was on track for a second straight loss after setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 177 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:18 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.5% lower.

Wells Fargo helped pull the market lower after falling 5%. The San Francisco-based bank reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected, with analysts citing lower trading fees and other miscellaneous items.

Bank of America fell 4.3% despite reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected, with some consternation about the size of its upcoming expenses. Citigroup, which is in the midst of a turnaround under Chair and CEO Jane Fraser, fell 4.2% following its own profit report.

Companies across industries need to report strong growth in profits to justify how high their stock prices have run recently. Analysts are looking for businesses across the S&P 500 to report earnings per share for the final three months of 2025 that are roughly 8% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

Biogen sank 5.2% after the biotechnology company said it expects to take a hit to its profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 due to research and development expenses and other costs that it acquired.

The heaviest weights on the market were tech stocks, which gave back some of their huge gains made over recent years from the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. Nvidia fell 2.1%, and Broadcom sank 4.6%.

Still, nearly as many stocks on Wall Street rose as fell, and the strongest forces keeping the S&P 500 from steeper losses were Exxon Mobil and other oil companies.

Exxon Mobil rose 3.5%, and Chevron climbed 2.7% as the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude added 1.3% to bring its gain for the year to more than 7%.

Oil prices have rallied as protests have swept Iran, which is a member of the OPEC group that helps set crude prices. The protests could lead to disruptions in production and squeeze supplies of crude.

Besides the rise in oil prices, gold's price also rose 0.9% toward a record in another signal of nervousness across financial markets.

In the bond market, Treasury yields sank as investors sought investments seen as safer. Several reports on the U.S. economy also came in mixed.

One said that shoppers spent more at U.S. retailers in November than economists expected. That could be an encouraging signal about the main engine of the U.S. economy, but economists pointed to some concerning signals were underneath the surface.

A separate report said prices rose modestly at the U.S. wholesale level in November. It followed a report on Tuesday that said inflation at the U.S. consumer level was close last month to economists’ expectations, though it remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

A third report said sales of occupied homes were stronger last month than economists expected. Taken altogether, the data did little to change Wall Street's expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at least twice this year to shore up the job market, likely beginning around June, according to CME Group.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.14% from 4.18% late Tuesday.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 1.5% to another record expectations grew that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call general elections soon.

Indexes were mixed elsewhere. Stocks rose 0.6% in Hong Kong but fell 0.3% in Shanghai after a report showed China’s trade surplus surged 20% in 2025 to a record despite President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

Specialist Michael Pistillo works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer watches computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won are seen at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)