SEATTLE — In January, a King County Superior Court judge ruled that the state cannot seek the death penalty against a couple accused of killing a family of six. Friday, the state Supreme Court granted a hearing after an appeal was filed by the King County Prosecutor’s Office, which wants to pursue the death penalty in the case.

The hearing has been set for May 9.

Michelle Anderson and her ex-boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, are charged with killing Anderson’s parents, Wayne Anderson, 60, and Judith Anderson, 61; her brother, Scott, and his wife, Erica, both 32; and the couple’s two children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3, inside the elder Andersons’ Carnation home on Christmas Eve 2007. Detectives said Michele Anderson told them she helped kill them because her brother owed her money and she was upset because her parents did not take her side.

SEATTLE — King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell on Thursday ruled the state cannot seek the death penalty against the couple accused of killing a family of six in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007.

In a 13-page order, Ramsdell ruled that the King County Prosecutor’s Office made a mistake in considering the strength of its evidence in deciding to seek the death penalty against Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe, The Seattle Times said. The judge added that strength of evidence in finding guilt cannot be applied to seeking the death penalty.

Prosecutor Dan Satterberg issued a statement: “We will appeal today’s decision to remove the death penalty in this case. We believe it is wrong. We will appeal on behalf of the six lives lost in this crime and because of the potential impact on all aggravated murder cases throughout the state – past, present and future.”

Anderson and her ex-boyfriend, McEnroe, are charged with killing Anderson’s parents, Wayne Anderson, 60, and Judith Anderson, 61; her brother, Scott, and his wife, Erica, both 32; and the couple’s two children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3, inside the elder Andersons’ Carnation home.

Detectives said Michele Anderson told them she helped kill them because her brother owed her money and she was upset because her parents did not take her side.

She told reporters in 2010 that she was guilty and that she deserved to die, but her lawyer said later she no longer wants to be executed.

Her lawyer, Stephan Illa, said that Satterberg is making a costly mistake in deciding to seek the death penalty against Anderson and McEnroe if they are convicted of aggravated murder.

Satterberg said the magnitude of the crime requires that a jury have the option of execution.

SEATTLE — A judge has decided to let the prosecutor’s death penalty notice stand in the case of Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe, accused of killing six members of Anderson’s family in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007, the court announced Monday.

The defense had asked Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell to dismiss the King County prosecutor’s death penalty notice on the grounds the death penalty is unconstitutional.

The notice means the jury, if it convicts the defendants, can consider the death penalty as punishment. The murder trial is scheduled to begin May 4.

Ramsdell held a status hearing on the defense request to dismiss the death penalty notice last Wednesday; the court announced his decision Monday.

Anderson and her ex-boyfriend, McEnroe, are charged with killing Anderson’s parents, Wayne Anderson, 60, and Judith Anderson, 61; her brother, Scott, and his wife, Erica, both 32; and the couple’s two children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3, inside the elder Andersons’ Carnation home.

Detectives said Michele Anderson told them she helped kill them because her brother owed her money and she was upset because her parents did not take her side.

She told reporters in 2010 that she was guilty and that she deserved to die, but her lawer said later she no longer wants to be executed.

Her lawyer, Stephan Illa, said that King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg is making a costly mistake in deciding to seek the death penalty against Anderson and McEnroe if they are convicted of aggravated murder.

Satterberg said the magnitude of the crime requires that a jury have the option of execution.

As of Monday, there are eight men on death row in Washington state. The last execution in the state, by lethal injection, was in September 2010.