Seattle police detectives used surveillance video, eyewitness reports and cellphone data to pinpoint the juvenile suspect in the killings of two Rainier Beach High School students on Jan. 30, according to evidence introduced in court on Wednesday.
The 15-year-old suspect declined to appear for a hearing Wednesday in the juvenile division of King County Superior Court, where a judge told police they had until Friday to file criminal charges. He is being held for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder and a count of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County prosecuting attorney's office, said prosecutors will determine on Friday whether they will seek to charge the suspect as an adult, which could allow a judge to impose a harsher sentence if convicted.
Because the suspect was under the age of 16 at the time of the shooting, requesting to move the case to adult court would trigger a monthslong court process involving an intensive defense investigation. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds charged with murder and certain other serious violent offenses can be automatically charged as adults.
The suspect turns 16 on Thursday.
The Seattle Times typically does not name juvenile suspects unless they are charged as adults.
Family members of the two who were killed, Tyjon Stewart, 18, and Traveiah Houfmuse, 17, filled three rows of seats in the courtroom at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.
A victim advocate with the Seattle Police Department read two victim-impact statements urging Judge Tanya L. Thorp to not release the suspect, whose arrest was announced Tuesday.
The individual responsible for this hideous crime should not, under no circumstances, be released," wrote Manuel Stewart, Tyjon's grandfather. "He has truly destroyed the lives of many, including his own."
A statement from Houfmuse's family said he had a "respectful and fun" personality and that he loved basketball.
"He didn't have a chance to live his dreams, and that saddens me," the statement said. "It has impacted his mother and our entire family, in many ways. There is extreme grief, anger and pain."
Court documents showed police homicide Detective David Simmons was able to identify a suspect within two weeks of the shooting, which occurred at a bus stop outside of the South Shore PK-8 School on South Henderson Street. Witnesses said shooter, dressed in black with white shoes and masked, exited a King County Metro bus, walked up to Stewart and Houfmuse — who were standing with others at the bus stop — and fired at least 12 rounds from a .40-caliber handgun, striking them both in the head and neck.
Police believe the suspect knew the two teenagers.
Using surveillance video from the bus and a number of surrounding business and homes, Simmons tracked the suspect west on Henderson and into an alley, where he took off his mask and donned a white cap with what appeared to be an "eight-ball design over its bill. The video also showed the shooter had a gold ring on the middle finger of his right hand.
On Feb. 15, the same day he was analyzing the video, Simmons reported he received an anonymous tip identifying the initials of a potential suspect. With that information, the detective found a Facebook page belonging to a Renton teen who wore a gold ring and matched the physical description of the suspect.
The detective learned the boy was on probation and contacted his probation supervisor, who said he was a student at Hazen High School in Renton.
Safety officers at the school said photos pulled from the video surveillance from near the scene appeared to be that student. Search warrants obtained for phone records showed that cellphone data from the 15-year-old's phone was recorded on towers near the shooting scene at the time of its occurrence.
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