BURIEN, Wash. — Adnel Kenjar was sentenced to 21.5 years in prison for the shooting that left 51-year-old Gabriela Reyes-Dominguez dead in 2018.
King County prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Kenjar to 21.5 years. The defense asked for a 10-year sentence with community custody to follow.
The defense cited trauma Kenjar faced and witnessed in his childhood, the impacts of post-traumatic stress disorder, a lack of support services for his mental and behavioral health needs, and other factors related to his youth at the time. Prosecutors said they acknowledge those factors, but do not believe they inhibited his ability to know right from wrong and still believe he was culpable for the crime.
Court documents say on Sept. 19, 2018, a father picking up his teenage son from Highline High School encountered Kenjar, who was 17 at the time, and his friends inside the building. The father, according to court documents, told the school's vice principal that he believed the way the group of friends was dressed was "disrespectful."
The two parties left the school. Kenjar left in a vehicle with his friends.
While Kenjar and his friends were stopped at an intersection, the father and son again encountered them as they walked along the sidewalk. The father began yelling at Kenjar. The father, according to court documents, flashed gang signs.
In response, Kenjar fired at least 11 rounds across the driver, through the window in the father's direction. Both he and his son fled without injury.
During the course of the shooting, however, one of the rounds went through the window of a nearby chiropractic business, striking and killing Reyes-Dominguez while she sat at her desk.
Court documents revealed that the gangs Kenjar and his friends, and the man were affiliated with at the time were "currently engaged in an ongoing violent gang war."