'I can hardly breathe when I remember that night': 22-year-old gang member gets life in prison for murdering 15-year-old Spokane Valley boy

Jul. 25—A brief applause and cheers erupted in a packed Spokane County courtroom Thursday after loved ones of 15-year-old Preston Grzogorek learned the teen's killer will serve life in prison without parole.

"If there's any person at 19 that deserves life, it's you," Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese told Stephen Yohler, now 22.

Witness testimonies and tearful impact statements dominated the nearly three-hour sentencing hearing. Yohler, wearing red Spokane County Jail clothing, declined to address the court.

Eileen Kesseru, a neighbor and friend of Grzogorek, said she will never forget seeing the University High School student lying dead on the ground at a Spokane Valley apartment complex.

"I can hardly breathe when I remember that night," she said.

Yohler, a gang member, shot Grzogorek on March 29, 2021, after Yohler's then-girlfriend, Daisy RedThunder, lured the teen from a Spokane Valley apartment.

RedThunder, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced earlier this year to five years in prison after pleading guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to commit first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance. She testified against Yohler at his trial.

A jury convicted Yohler in November of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and tampering with a witness.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Preston McCollam said Yohler's attack was "cold" and "calculated" as he "laid in wait" for Grzogorek to come out of the apartment.

Surveillance video captured Yohler entering the apartment complex at 9717 E. Sixth Ave., loitering around a garage and then sprinting toward Grzogorek's last known location, according to court documents. Six gunshots and a scream can then be heard.

McCollam said the video showed Yohler waiting for six minutes while he communicated with RedThunder.

One witness said she heard gunshots and saw a suspect, later determined to be Yohler, running through the complex. She saw Yohler throw a handgun over a fence, hop the fence and then recover the gun, documents say. McCollam said police never found the weapon.

Another witness said he saw Grzogorek jogging, appearing to notice someone, then running back toward the apartment he came from. He saw a male wearing a black coat chasing the boy toward the apartment before five or six gunshots rang out and Grzogorek screamed.

Kesseru said Grzogorek was unarmed, unprotected and unsuspecting of the attack.

"You completely ambushed the poor thing," she said.

Yohler then fled to Reno, Nevada, with his other girlfriend. McCollam said Yohler arranged to fly RedThunder to Nevada to keep her from disclosing statements to police after Yohler learned detectives contacted her.

Yohler told his other girlfriend he shot and killed Grzogorek because Grzogorek was going to kill him, the girlfriend said in documents. Yohler told her that Grzogorek had "put money on his head."

But, the jury determined Yohler did not act in self-defense, McCollam said.

He said Yohler was proud of the killing, adding that Yohler was tired of being a "little homie" and wanted to be a "big homie" in his gang.

McCollam said Yohler testified that he is still associated with the 18th Street Blue Devils.

He said Yohler got tattoos referencing the murder and recorded a rap song in which Yohler bragged about the killing.

"He was looking to elevate himself at the expense of Preston Grzogorek," McCollam said.

Yohler's attorney, Brian Raymon, asked Plese to impose a 25-year prison term. That would have allowed Yohler, who has no prior criminal history, to obtain an education in prison and leave a changed man who paid his debt to society.

Raymon called two men who evaluated Yohler for a presentence investigation report to the stand Thursday.

Dr. Nathan Henry, a licensed psychologist, said he determined Yohler has post-traumatic stress disorder from his youth, which can impact decision making and impulsivity. He said youthfulness, impetuosity and a lack of appreciation for consequences were relevant issues for the court to consider in this case.

Plese said Yohler planned the attack before chasing Grzogorek down and shooting him.

"This wasn't impulsive," she said.

Patricia Carlson, Grzogorek's aunt, read a statement from her mother, Betty Grzogorek, who helped raise the slain 15-year-old.

Betty Grzogorek wrote that she spent most of the last three years in "excruciating heartbreak," and the pain is so unbearable she often wants to "join" the teen.

She said Preston Grzogorek will never be able to graduate high school, go to college, get married or have children.

"He spent the last moments of his life scared and gasping for breath," Betty Grzogorek wrote.

She wrote she had to move from where she lived because Yohler's gang members drove through her apartment complex after the shooting. She's scared one of them will kill her, too.

Kaitlin Cooper, Preston Grzogorek's sister, read a statement on behalf of Nicole Grzogorek, another sibling of the 15-year-old.

Nicole Grzogorek wrote that her daughter adored her "Uncle Preston." He would make her laugh and take her outside to play.

"Preston was the greatest person," she wrote. "There will always be a void in my heart, even 30 years from now."

She wrote she wept all night after learning of her brother's killing, saying her eyes were swollen from crying. She wrote that her brother "wouldn't hurt a fly" and would give the shirt off his back to help someone.

"I feel like I'm living every sibling's worst nightmare," Nicole Grzogorek wrote.

Anxiety, panic attacks and depression are now a part of her life.

"Stephen made a choice and robbed Preston of his youth," she wrote.