A 24-year-old Westminster man accepted a plea deal Friday of a Pueblo teen last year, despite protests from the teen’s family that the agreement be rejected.
Christopher Adam Waide admitted to second-degree murder and sexual exploitation of a child in the slaying of 19-year-old Lea Chali Porter. Prosecutors say the exploitation count stems from child pornography found on Waide’s computer during the investigation into Porter’s disappearance.
Adams County prosecutors agreed to drop charges of first-degree murder and witness tampering in the case. Sue Lindsay, spokeswoman for the county prosecutor’s office, said Waide agreed to serve 48 years in prison as part of the plea. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced Nov. 6.
Porter’s family vehemently opposed the deal. Her mother, Rene Jackson, speaking before a judge during Friday’s hearing, called the plea “an awful message to us and to the community, by minimizing the act of premeditated murder.”
Jackson, had earlier called the legal process “judicial hell.”
“We are not happy,” Jackson told The Denver Post on Friday.
“During (our) meetings, they felt very comfortable with the plea and agreed with the plea,” Dave Young, 17th Judicial District Attorney, told The Post. “That changed. I know that they did a lot of back and forth.”
Young said the decision to pursue a plea agreement stemmed from the fact Porter’s body was never located despite extensive search efforts that included a 45-day scouring of a landfill.
“There’s always a chance that one juror — it only takes one juror — to say, ‘We don’t know where she’s at,’ ” Young said. “At the end of the day I hope they appreciate all of the work and effort that went into achieving the plea.”
Porter was , after she was last known to be visiting friends in Westminster. Investigators found her abandoned car at an apartment complex where Waide — whom family said was a friend Porter knew from growing up in southern Colorado — lived.
Porter was in the process of moving to the metro area at the time of her disappearance, police said. She graduated from Florence High School in 2013.
Investigators believe Porter was upset that her boyfriend was moving out of state when she went to visit Waide.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733 The Cañon City Daily record contributed to this report
