Washington
Woman stabbed in Washington City vacation rental had a worldwide impact
WASHINGTON CITY, Utah — Nearly two weeks ago, a woman was found by a cleaning crew in a Washington City vacation rental, she had been stabbed 12 times in her torso.
But the scope of what had happened went far beyond this community and even beyond California where the woman was from – it was felt on the other side of the world.
The victim was identified as Andreea Mottram, who was going to turn 48 on March 29. Six days before her birthday, her body was found in the Sienna Hills community vacation rental she had been staying in.
The two teens charged with her murder are 16-year-old Mihaela Sorescu and 17-year-old Abilagel Flanagan. They were formally charged with first-degree felony murder on Friday.
Sorescu is Mottram’s adoptive daughter.
Mottram was a social worker and co-founder of disability and refugee aid associations in the U.S. and Romania, including the Chicago-based American Romanian Coalition for Human and Equal Rights (ARCHER) and the leading advocacy and aid group for autistic individuals in Romania after her two biological sons were found to be on the spectrum.
In a video for ARCHER, Mottram talked about discovering love.
“At that time, my son was nonverbal and he’s still nonverbal in the meantime. He learned how to say, I love you,” Mottram said. “I don’t know how much you know about the Romanian culture but it’s very hard for us to say ‘I love you.’ And ‘I love you’ comes very hard in Romanian families.”
Mottram was also an advocate for the Roma people.
She later adopted a third child, a Roma girl named Bella, who was also known as Mihaela Sorescu- one of the teens now accused of killing her.
Victim’s daughter identified as one of teen girls charged with murder inside Washington City rental home:
Daughter’s diary showed desire to ‘kill’ mother found dead in rental home
Washington Attorney Eric Clarke told FOX 13 that Sorescu and Flanagan are being charged as adults for murder, as well as car theft, after allegedly taking the vehicle Mottram had rented back to California.
Mottram’s sister, who lives in Romania, said she and her family were too distraught to speak about Andreea.
On the same day police said Mottram was killed, she made her last post on Facebook, simply stating “This is… almost 48.” Four days before, she had posted, “The trouble is, you think you have time.”
Washington
Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt
Washington
Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI
SEATTLE — A bill aimed at tightening Washington’s laws on child sex abuse material is headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk after clearing the Legislature unanimously.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said 2ESSB 5105 passed the House unanimously Tuesday night after the Senate unanimously approved it on Jan. 28, 2026.
SEE ALSO | Washington exempts clergy from reporting abuse learned in confession after settlement
Manion called the measure one of her public safety legislative priorities.
“People who peddle in the misery of sexually abused children must be held accountable,” Manion said. “I am grateful for the work of Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Laura Harmon – both in prosecuting these cases and advocating for these legal fixes – and Senators Tina Orwall and Manka Dhingra for championing this legislation.”
Manion’s office said the current state law has gaps that can prevent prosecutors from holding offenders accountable in some cases.
Under current law, prosecutors cannot charge defendants for creating images of child sex abuse unless the child victim was conscious or knew they were being recorded.
The office also said that possessing sexually explicit fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors is not considered child sex abuse material under Washington law.
The bill would update RCW 9.68A.040 to remove the requirement that a child be aware of an abusive recording. It would also update the definition of child sex abuse material to include fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors.
The legislation would also increase the statute of limitations to 10 years for depiction crimes. Manion’s office said the current statute of limitations is three years, and argued that because the images can remain online indefinitely, victims can be re-traumatized for decades.
Washington
Utah Starts Road Trip with Win in Washington | Utah Mammoth
Both of Utah’s power play units scored in the win. Sergachev scored his 10th goal of the season on the power play 13 and a half minutes into the first period. Peterka scored his 21st of the season, on the man-advantage, in the final two minutes of the middle frame.
Peterka has three power play goals in the 2025-26 campaign while Sergachev has matched a career-high with five power play goals this season. Overall, Utah’s power play has scored six goals in the last six games. That output matches the Mammoth’s total from their previous 18 games (per Mammoth PR). Tourigny discussed what’s changed with the team’s performance in recent games.
“(The) puck gets in,” Tourigny laughed. “But, no, I think there’s a number of things. The most important thing is we’re aggressive. We’re attacking.
“…If you look at our goal, the first one, it’s a direct play to the net and then on the loose puck recovery we take a shot with traffic and we score,” Tourigny continued. “On the second one, it’s a slot pass, a great shot by (Peterka). I think we had that attack mindset.”
Guenther, who is on the Mammoth’s top power play unit, agreed with Tourigny’s assessment of attacking more.
“I think just attacking, less predictable,” Guenther explained. “Shooting it more, I think (it is) just work really. Trying to play like a 5-on-5 mindset but on the (power play).”
The Mammoth made several line changes for tonight’s game and the new lines started to find chemistry, despite it being the first game with these changes.
“I like them,” Tourigny said of the changes. “Obviously (Guenther) got a goal, but Cooley’s line was really good. I was looking at the expected goals at the end, I think they were above 90%. So that’s pretty, pretty awesome. Then I think (Barrett Hayton’s) line worked really hard. They’re heavy on pucks and they play well defensively. I did like (Michael Carcone’s) line in (the) previous three games, and I did like them again tonight.”
When Washington pushed back with a power play goal and multiple close chances in the third period, Utah fought hard against the momentum swing to secure the win.
“I thought we did a pretty good job,” Keller explained. “Weathering the storm as much as we could. They’re a great veteran team. They made it hard on us. They pressured us all over the ice, but I was proud of the way we fought there towards the end.”
Utah’s bench was positive and calm throughout the game, especially late in the third. This helped the Mammoth through the momentum swings. Keller, who had two assists in the win, was one of the key voices for the Mammoth.
“He’s one of the guys who was really positive on the bench,” Tourigny explained. “(All the players) were but (Keller) was really vocal. He was really good energy on the bench. So that was really good.”
Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)
- Guenther had two points in the win (1G, 1A) and the forward has earned a team-high nine points (5G, 4A) through six road games in 2026. He has become the third Mammoth skater to reach the 50-point mark this season (28G, 23A) and established a new career-high in goals.
- Sergachev has 18 power play points this season (5G, 13A) and is tied with Keller for the team lead this season.
- Keller has recorded multiple primary assists in a game for the seventh time this season and the 27th time in his NHL career. He has now tallied multiple points in four of his last six contests (2G, 8A), with three multi-assist outings over that span.
The Mammoth continue their five-game road trip in Philadelphia on Thursday night. Game time is 5 p.m. MT and available to watch on Mammoth+ and Utah16.
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