King County prosecutors have formally charged a 13-year-old boy in connection with the fatal shooting of his 17-year-old cousin in South Seattle.
The boy is charged in juvenile court with manslaughter in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. KIRO Newsradio is not naming the teen because he is a juvenile.
The shooting happened the night of May 29 at an apartment on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South in Seattle.
What investigators say happened in South Seattle shooting
At about 11:29 p.m. on May 29, a teen in the unit called 911 from Apartment 323 at the Willow Crossing Apartments, reporting that a friend had been “playing with his gun and shot himself,” according to charging documents and earlier probable cause statements.
Seattle officers arrived within minutes and found the victim, 17, on the bedroom floor with a single gunshot wound to the head, his body blocking the door. He was clutching $21 in cash in his left hand. In the opposite corner of the bedroom, police found a Smith & Wesson .45‑caliber semi-automatic handgun on the floor, with a fired .45 cartridge casing just inches away.
Several teens at the apartment were interviewed. Some said they were inside when the shot was fired; others said they arrived afterward.
The 13-year-old’s mother later called 911 from Harborview Medical Center, telling dispatchers that her son had shot her nephew at the apartment on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. She said her son told her the gun went off accidentally while he was “playing with the slide.”
In a later recorded statement to police, she said her son initially claimed the 17-year-old had shot himself, but when she confronted him and demanded the truth, she said he admitted he had been playing with the gun when it went off.
A Seattle Police Department detective wrote that there is probable cause to believe the 13-year-old recklessly caused his cousin’s death while unlawfully possessing a handgun, which minors are not allowed to have under Washington law.
Judge orders teen held, next court date set
At a first appearance hearing last Friday, a judge found probable cause to hold the 13-year-old on investigation of manslaughter and unlawful gun possession.
King County prosecutors, a juvenile probation counselor, and the boy’s father all asked that he be held in secure juvenile detention. The teen’s defense attorney argued for electronic home monitoring instead, noting the boy turned himself in to police.
The judge called the shooting “beyond a tragedy,” adding, “we cannot negate that it was an avoidable one, and this court has concerns,” before ordering the boy held in secure juvenile detention.
The teen’s next court date is his arraignment, where an initial plea will be entered. That hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on June 10 at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center in Seattle.
Respondents are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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