Settlement is reached in the death of a teenager

MILTON-FREEWATER – The Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office announces it has reached a settlement with Manuel Adam Peralez Jr. of Walla Walla who had been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Jason Samuel Warner, 18, of Milton Freewater on March 5, 2022.

DA Dan Primus said that Peralez agreed to plead guilty to a charge of first-degree manslaughter, which carries a 25-year sentence. Second-degree murder has a mandatory minimum 25-year sentence without possibility of parole.

“What a resolution like that does, is it gives that closure, that finality, for the family to at least allow them to end this chapter of a horrific event,” Primus said.

The shooting occurred on Yellow Jacket Road in the early morning hours, and at the time the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office said Peralez was identified as a suspect early in the investigation. The day after the shooting, Peralez turned himself in to the Milton-Freewater Police Department. He was 19 at the time of the shooting.

---

• 
• 

• 
• 

• 
• 

---

---