KING COUNTY, Wash. — A teen pleaded guilty Tuesday to first and second-degree murder charges for separate incidents in 2021 and 2022.
The teen was 14 at the time he committed both murders.
The teen was charged in juvenile court and has yet to be sentenced. He will at least remain in juvenile detention until he is 21. He also faces charges of first-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm that were declined to the adult system. KING 5 is not naming the teen due to his age.
In the November 2021 incident, Renton police officers were called to a Safeway at 4300 NE 4th St at around 6:50 p.m. where they found a man lying in the parking lot between parked cars. The victim had been shot four times and died at the scene despite life-saving efforts.
The perpetrator was caught on surveillance video hanging out of the passenger side window of a gray Honda Odyssey yelling at the victim at around 6:42 p.m. that night. The Odyssey was stopped in front of the victim's car.
The perpetrator was caught yelling "What the ---- you looking at?" and "Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?"
The victim then approached the passenger side of the vehicle when the perpetrator shot him. The perpetrator posted pictures of himself wearing the outfit the shooter was seen wearing on the Safeway surveillance video. He also went on Instagram Live less than five hours after the shooting, saying he had "sizzled" someone and caught a fish in a tank. The perpetrator's Instagram account showed him handling assault rifles and handguns, including one with a 9mmm barrel magazine, like the one that was used in the shooting.
In the second incident in January 2022, Renton police found a victim lying facedown on a sidewalk outside the Circle Food Store who had been shot four times in the upper torso. Officers and medics attempted life-saving measures, but the victim died at the scene.
Surveillance footage showed the perpetrator standing outside the store when the victim walked out. As the victim was walking toward his car, video shows him turning his head toward the perpetrator and then walking toward him. The perpetrator is seen reaching into his pocket, pulling out a gun and firing at the victim, then running and getting into the passenger side of a black Suburban and fleeing.
The perpetrator was arrested at a nearby apartment complex a day later.
The teen has another hearing on July 3 related to the assault and firearm charges. If he is convicted or pleads guilty to those charges he will serve out that sentence immediately following his time at a juvenile detention center.