By ILY GOYANES
Correspondent

PORT ORCHARD — Superior Court Judge Jennifer Forbes presided over a packed courtroom Aug. 21 as Gabriel Gaeta, accused of raping and murdering a young neighbor in 2014, sat quietly in the jury box during a hearing on the status of the discovery process and to set a trial date.

Discovery is a pre-trial procedure in which the prosecutor and the defense attorney can obtain evidence from the other party or parties by means of a request for answers to interrogatories, request for production of documents, request for admissions and depositions, and subpoenas.

During the proceedings, Gaeta alternated between looking straight down and straight ahead unless responding to questions from the bench. He is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child, both with aggravating circumstances.

Gaeta allegedly raped and murdered Jenise Wright, 6, last year in East Bremerton. Jenise’s body was found in the woods near Steele Creek Mobile Home Park, where she and Gaeta were neighbors, five days after her parents reported the child missing.

Authorities say the defendant’s DNA matched samples taken from the crime scene, leading to his arrest on Aug. 9, 2014. A search warrant served at his home the same day led to the discovery of bloodstained clothes, including a pair of underwear, one shirt, and a pair of shorts, as well as a bloody towel, according to the certificate of probable cause submitted by Detective Elizabeth Gundrum of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.

Jenise’s disappearance garnered national headlines, leading to extensive media coverage, including a KIRO 7 interview with Gaeta’s mother, Tina Wright (no relation to the victim), who tearfully responded to the reporter’s questions about the search for Jenise, “It’s sad … it hurts.”

At the time of the interview, she had no idea that Jenise’s body would soon be found and that her son would be charged with the child’s murder. Gaeta, a star wrestler at Olympic High School at the time, attended a vigil for Jenise after the discovery of her body.

Gaeta is next scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 25 for another pre-trial hearing. Trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 11.