A Centralia man arrested for his involvement in kidnapping and robbing a juvenile at gunpoint in December was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison.
Cornelius Wayman Jr., 21, was sentenced by Lewis County Superior Court Judge J. Andrew Toynbee after he pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree assault and one count each of second-degree robbery and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
As part of Wayman’s sentence, he is required to register as a felony firearm offender. Anti-harassment orders protecting the four victims in this case are in place.
Wayman was the first of three suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and robbery, which was reported at 5:47 p.m. on Dec. 4, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Wayman and his two co-defendants, Daniel L. Flores, 18, of Centralia, and Elijah S. Molina, 21, of Chehalis, allegedly met up with four juveniles who agreed to sell them a vape pen at Fort Borst Park sometime before 5:47 p.m. on Dec. 4.
One of the juveniles reportedly got into the front passenger’s seat of the suspects’ vehicle to sell them the vape pen, at which point one of two reported passengers in the backseat, who have since been identified as Flores and Molina, allegedly “pulled out a gun and pressed it to the back of (the juvenile’s) head,” according to charging documents.
Flores allegedly told detectives that Wayman told Molina to “put the gun to (the juvenile’s) neck,” according to court documents.
While Molina allegedly had a gun to the victim’s head, Wayman “sped off with the victim in the vehicle,” according to charging documents and a Centralia Police Department news release.
The victim reported that he threw the vape pen out of the window once the vehicle sped out of the parking spot, which prompted Wayman to stop the vehicle. He grabbed the gun from the backseat passenger, stepped out of the vehicle to retrieve the vape, pointed the gun at the other three juveniles who were with the victim and struck the victim in the face before getting back into the vehicle and driving off.
Flores pleaded not guilty to first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault charges on Dec. 12. A trial setting hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6.
He posted $50,000 bail on Dec. 17 and was not in custody at the Lewis County Jail as of Friday afternoon.
Molina, who was arrested Monday, Jan. 27, was still in custody Friday on a total of $205,100 between three cases. His arraignment hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6.
Wayman has an unrelated third-degree rape of a child case that was still active in Lewis County Superior Court as of Friday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to all charges on Jan. 30 and trial is scheduled to begin March 24.
