The tragic murder of three young sisters near Wenatchee is bringing new attention to the complexities of family court and judicial discretion in complicated custody and visitation plans.

The death of the young Decker girls – Olivia, 5, Evelyn, 8, Paityn, 9 – is also traumatizing for families who are in the system and working for change to better protect children.

As of Thursday afternoon, 32-year-old Travis Decker, accused of killing his daughters sometime last weekend, remains at large.

“If there’s concern for the spouse, there should be concern for the children,” Rep. Brian Burnett, R-Wenatchee, said.

Burnett, a former sheriff of Chelan County, said that, in looking over court documents related to the Decker case, it was clear the suspect’s mental health was in sharp decline.

“There was a degradation of his mental health, declining since they originally put their parenting plan together in 2022. And if you look at the timeline and the information that she [Whitney Decker, the children’s mother] provided to the courts, it’s definitely alarming,” Burnett observed. “Something in my mind should have been done, and I know that I heard a lot of people are up in arms over the judge, our local judge here, that issued that parenting plan.”

Whitney Decker’s attorney told The Center Square that Travis Decker had not been able to meet the requirements of the parenting plan to have a psychological evaluation and other mental health requirements, blaming a lack of access to Veterans Affairs services in the area, and said he was trying to get help.

Decker served in the Army and was a member of the Washington National Guard.

“I hope legislatively that we could have this as a wake-up call,” Burnett said.

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