Accused Teen Shooters Appear In Court

Four of six people accused in the shooting death of a Salina South High School student appeared in Saline County District Court Thursday morning. 22-year-old Macio Palacio, 19-year-old Jerome Forbes,19-year-old Daniel Sims, and 18-year-old Stephen Gentry all appeared before Judge Renee Young for what was scheduled to be a preliminary hearing to decide if there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.

By agreement of everyone involved, the hearing was continued. Each of the four attorneys of the four defendants, and the Saline County Attorney’s all agreed that more time was needed to examine all of the evidence. The hearing, which could take a couple of days, was rescheduled for Thursday, September 10th.

A 17-year-old boy who is one of those accused in the case could also be a part of the September 10th preliminary hearing. The Saline County Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to have Andrew Woodring prosecuted as an adult. Judge Renee Young will hear arguments on August 5th. If the judge agrees that Woodring should be prosecuted as an adult, all five defendants accused of participating in the shooting will be in court together for the September preliminary hearing.

All five are facing the same felony charges that include:

1st degree murder
attempted 1st degree murder
shooting at an occupied vehicle
conspiracy to commit aggravated battery

21-year-old Azucena Garcia-Ferniza is also accused in the case. She is facing a single felony charge of obstruction.

The case stems from the death of 17-year-old Allie Saum, who was shot and killed on May 6th in what prosecutors allege was a case of mistaken identity. Police said that the shooting was prompted by a fight earlier in the evening. A group of people went out to seek revenge. One of them mistakenly identified a male in a pickup that was driving by as being involved in the fight. Shots were fired at the truck as it drove eastbound in the 500 block of Russell. Saum was also in the truck, and was hit in the head.