We just received word from the King County Prosecutor’s Office that a 15-year old juvenile, whose name we are withholding due to his age, has been charged with First Degree Assault and Illegal Possession of a Firearm in the shooting of a Judkins Park man last Thursday.
Prosecutors will attempt to try the suspect as an adult. A hearing is scheduled for next Friday, August 29th, at 8:30 am at Juvenile Hall to consider that request.
The charging documents contain several facts that weren’t previously known:
- The 20 year old victim knows the suspect from the neighborhood and has had “an ongoing conflict” with him.
- The victim was visiting family members near 26th & Alder when he saw the suspect walking with 2-3 other people he didn’t recognize
- The suspect disappeared down an alley, and a few minutes later he returned with a revolver in his hand and began shooting as the victim was getting into his vehicle
- One bullet grazed the victim on the right side of his head, but he was able to drive away without further injury
- The suspect lives with his mother in the 900 block of 28th S. His room has a padlock and he’s got the only key to open it
- The suspect has two prior felony convictions from 2007 for vehicle theft and a narcotics violation
We’re really interested to see how the justice system deals with a violent offender of such a young age, so we’ll be following this one closely to see how things turn out. Stay tuned…
I would like to be part of some group following up on how the justice system deals with this and similar incidents. We know the answer usually is not to lock them up forever, but there has to be some program of restraint, redirection, and accountability. We keep hearing about the juvenile offenders being back on the streets before the SPD officers finish writing their reports, and then they go and offend again.
I went to the county-wide gang prevention all-day forum on Monday, and there were of course ideas presented and hopes raised and plans made, and I plan to stay in the loop with that, but I think we need to become more knowledgable about how to facilitate positive intervention with these kids before it is too late for any given individual. Some think the problem is with the court system. We all know that there are certain homes that produce multiple examples of this behavior, but nothing seems to change. Is anyone already working on this?
If you contact “The Neighborhood Group” They have information on how you can have their house abated and resold to non-criminals. This was VERY effective in the 1990’s. I do not understand why no one has proceeded on an abatement process in all these cases?