Teen Gets 9 Years for Kidnapping His Great-Grandma

An 87-year-old Washington state woman had some advice for her great-grandson as he was sentenced Thursday for abducting her in 2015 in what the Tri-City Herald calls an "apparent murder plot" to steal her car. “Behave yourself in prison and maybe some day you will have a good life,” said Hazel Abel of Kennewick. A judge sentenced 17-year-old Dyllan Martin, Abel's great-grandson, to 9½ years in prison. In a separate hearing, accomplice Billy Underwood, 16, got 10½ years. Both were charged as adults. The teens abducted Abel from her home in November, tying her hands and putting her in the trunk of her Dodge Neon with her Chihuahua. They drove some 200 miles to Multnomah County, Ore., but she escaped when they parked at a Walmart to buy toiletries.

"The only thing I have to say is I'm sorry. This was the worst decision I have ever made," Martin said during the hearing, per the Oregonian. The judge said that Underwood “physically executed more of the plan, but Mr. Martin offered up his great-grandmother.” Defense attorneys for both teens argued their clients had mental health issues. “I can’t begin to tell you boys how sorry I am for what you’ve all been through these past few months,” Abel said in a statement. "It could have ended so much worse than it did if you’d carried out the plans you had for me.” A third co-defendant, who was 14 at the time, previously received 2½ years in a juvenile facility, the Oregonian reports. (This young kidnapping victim is back home.)