Seattle man accused of fatally shooting his 9-month-old sleeping child has 14 felonies

SEATTLE — A 35-year-old man is being held on $5 million bail, suspected of shooting and killing his sleeping 9-month-old baby and shooting at two others.

Seattle police responded to the shooting scene on the 3000 block of 21st Ave W in the Magnolia neighborhood Wednesday night at around 6:30 p.m.

Officers arrived to find a woman who told them her child was dead after being shot in the head. Seattle police initially detained two people in relation to the fatal shooting, but through their investigation only placed one person under arrest, the child's 35-year old father.

RELATED | Child fatally shot in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood, suspects detained for investigation

Prosecutors believe the child's murder was premeditated, but the suspect’s defense attorney indicated in court Thursday the suspect shot because he thought there were demons and the gun was filled with blanks.

Neighbors are still shaken up after learning the 9-month old child was shot and killed on their block. Zoe Beck told KOMO News she arrived home to find the child’s mother in extreme distress. Other neighbors also reported hearing a woman screaming.

Beck, who is a pediatric nurse, said she tried to see what she could do to help, but it was already too late.

“I actually went next door to ask if I could assist with CPR or anything, and just the look in the police officer’s face when he was like, 'There’s nothing we can do,'” Beck said.

“I was crying. I cried a lot last night. It’s just like you can’t really wrap your head around it. It’s just really hard to hear and process through,” Erin Smith, who also lives on that street, said.

Police arrested the child’s father not far from the shooting scene. Investigators say he also shot at two others near 22nd Ave W and Thorndyke Ave W but missed. The bullets ended up damaging nearby vehicles, according to court documents.

The suspect has not been formally charged yet, so KOMO News is not naming him, but prosecutors are looking at possible charges, including murder in the first degree, two counts of assault in the first degree, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

“In this case, we have a single shot to the head of the infant who was asleep in the rocker at the time of the murder,” a King County prosecutor told a judge during the suspect’s first appearance hearing Thursday afternoon.

But the suspect’s defense attorney claims, according to court records, there are other factors at play in this case.

“He does indicate to his wife that he thought it was a blank and also indicates that he thought there was demons,” Byron Gale, an attorney with the King County Department of Public Defense, said.

According to court documents, the suspect was not responding to simple questions at the time of his arrest and “was talking about demons, and his gaze was fixed with wide eyes.” He also told police "he had used PCP today and he blamed his actions on demons."

The suspect’s wife told police he “purchased PCP about one week prior, but she was unsure if he had any left,” according to court documents.

KOMO News also looked into the suspect's criminal history and found he has 14 felonies on his record dating back to 2002, including prior convictions for assault, theft, attempting to elude, and possession of a stolen vehicle. However, the last time he was arrested was more than ten years ago in 2013.

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