KIRO TV
January 22, 2014
Kenneth McNeal’s mother cried quietly in the courtroom as her husband apologized for their son on his 16th birthday.
“Our biggest heartbreak is that a human life was almost lost,” Michael McNeal said.
Kenneth, 16, and Brandon Pamon, 23, are accused of brutally attacking 23-year-old Geoff Vincent as the Seattle
University student walked home from a show early Wednesday morning. Police said McNeal and Pamon punched and stabbed Vincent, piercing his heart and lung.
“He had ten transfusions and was on death’s door,” said Ben Vincent, the victim’s brother.”If he hadn’t been attacked where he was (close to the hospital), and cared for as quickly as he was, he would be dead.”
Geoff is currently still in Harborview Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit but is awake and talking.
McNeal’s father also gave a face-to-face apology to the Vincent family after court. He said he has no idea why his son might have done such a thing.
McNeal is currently being held in the King County juvenile detention facility. He was not allowed to go home with his parents.
If the prosecutor moves forward with formal charges, he will have to decide whether to charge McNeal as a juvenile or an adult. The attack happened when McNeal was 15. If he’d been accused of the crime after his 16th birthday, he would automatically be in adult court.
Bail for Pamon was set at $1 million on Thursday.
A 16-year-old female who was initially arrested by police was released pending further investigation.