Guilty verdict in Elijah Lewis murder trial

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A jury has found Patrick Cooney guilty of second degree murder and assault in the deadly shooting of Elijah Lewis on Capitol Hill.

Prosecutors said security video from Seattle Central and the Walgreens at the corner of Broadway and Pine showed Cooney opening fire on the car driven by Lewis as he picked up his young nephew even as it was turning to leave onto Broadway.

Police say Cooney was riding a rental electric scooter on E Pine just after 5 PM on April 1, 2023 when he became embroiled in the altercation and opened fire into the vehicle Lewis was driving, striking him with a fatal shot and hitting the child in the calf. The child was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital. Lewis was shot and died at Harborview later that night.

CHS reported here on court battles over evidence in the case including the 37-year-old Cooney’s previous incidents involving firearms with Capitol Hill drivers.

The jury’s decision brings the justice process nearer a close. Cooney is slated to be sentenced in March.

Lewis, 23 years old at the time of the killing, is remembered as a dedicated community builder and entrepreneur in the Central District and Africatown communities. He was proud of his efforts as a self-described “serial entrepreneur” in addition to his work with Sankofa Theater and doing outreach for the Africatown Community Land Trust and events like this Black Wall Street festival. A USA Today columnist wrote that Lewis “could have been the next MLK.”

“Today, a King County jury returned a guilty verdict for Mr. Cooney’s role in the tragic murder of Elijah Lewis and shooting his young nephew,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion. “I am grateful to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office team for their work on this case. My sympathies continue to be with Mr. Lewis’s family and those who loved him.”

 The prosecutor’s office said the total statewide standard sentencing range for second-degree murder and first-degree assault convictions, each with firearm enhancements is 336 to 463 months.

 The sentencing date is scheduled for March 14 in the King County Courthouse, though there’s a possibility that could be continued by the court, the prosecutor’s office said.

OOLA says goodbye to Capitol Hill — again — as 14th and Union restaurant shutters

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Kirby Kallas-Lewis and KT Niehoff’s “all time favorite spot in their all time favorite neighborhood” will be available again.

The OOLA Capitol Hill restaurant has shuttered while its Georgetown craft spirits distillery will carry on.

The 14th and Union restaurant had been shuttered for a prolonged “temporary closure” that is now permanent. CHS checked in with Kallas-Lewis a few weeks back but the owners weren’t certain about their plans. Over the weekend, they posted the sad decision:

Kirby and I want to share with you that we will be closing our OOLA Capitol Hill Restaurant, effective immediately.
It has been a true pleasure sharing our little oasis on Capitol Hill with you all. Thank you for the magical moments and energy you’ve brought into the space, and for being so present for this great experiment.

But the couple reports the OOLA Distillery “lives on.” Continue reading →

Seattle landmarks board considers Belmont-Boylston ‘double house’

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A 1901-era, three-story apartment building at 1411 Boylston Ave nominated for protections in January will move ahead with a meeting on designating the property as an official landmark Wednesday afternoon.

Possible protections for the so-called Belmont-Boylston “double house” are coming as Historic Seattle prepares to sell the property it renovated after purchasing a swath in the area in 1989. Continue reading →

Police search for suspect after Broadway/Pike stabbing — UPDATE

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A man suffered reported critical injuries in a stabbing in an assault Tuesday night outside the Harvard Market QFC.

Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were called to Broadway and Pike just after 7:45 PM to the reported stabbing.

A man was reportedly tracked down within minutes at 10th and Pike and taken into custody but a witness told police they had the wrong man, according to East Precinct radio updates.

The suspect was reported as a white male wearing a beanie, 50 to 60 years old, and wearing a grey jacket. He was last seen headed east west on Pike.

UPDATE: SPD reports there was an altercation between the two men previous to the stabbing and are asking the public for information. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

Police were able to obtain extensive video evidence from the scene, according to radio updates.

The victim was reported in serious condition with a stab wound to his stomach and was being transported from the scene to Harborview.

Broadway at Pike’s street disorder issues have continued. Last summer, the city identified the area as it made the list — twice — for Seattle’s top areas for Crime and Overdose Concentration according to the Seattle Police Department.

CHS reported here on Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office’s plan to address Pike/Pine public safety concerns including adding the area to an anti-crime camera pilot as part of a new SPD surveillance system combining Closed-Circuit Television Camera systems above the city’s streets with “real-time crime center” software.

Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess said other expansions of city efforts to address street disorder downtown were also being considered for Pike/Pine, saying his office was “in talks” with neighborhood businesses about stringing more catenary lights in an attempt to brighten darker areas outside the Pike/Pine core.

Burgess also revealed the effort to establish a Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) station on the street level of the Harvard Market shopping center in a space left empty when Chase Bank departed the challenged corner.

But efforts to establish the new CARE facility on Broadway bogged down over a possible lease at the shopping center. A spokesperson told CHS the search continues but is no longer centered on Harvard Market.

The mayor’s office has said the ongoing challenges around hiring more officers has also been an underlying problem for the East Precinct. For the first time in five years, Seattle’s police department barely hired more officers than it lost last year.

The city’s increased response followed the October 19th murder of 25-year-old Breanna Simmons and a related shooting the next day.

The intersection is also now part of the city’s Capitol Hill “Stay out of Drug Area” exclusion zone. CHS reported here on the city’s first and only exclusion order issued after a judge signed off on an order barring a woman busted for smoking fentanyl outside the Harvard Market QFC in December.

Tragedies around Pike and Broadway have continued. In the early hours of December 31st, 29-year-old Jonny Adamow was shot and killed in what is believed to have been a botched ambush targeting another person at the troubled intersection. There have been no arrests announced in Adamow’s murder.

 

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As Capitol Hill’s smallest brewery turns 10, the search for new ownership to pilot Outer Planet begins

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(Image: Outer Planet)

By Matt Dowell

Outer Planet Brewing’s next trip around the sun may be an interesting one.

As Capitol Hill’s smallest brewery marks its 10th anniversary this week, ownership has decided not to renew Outer Planet’s 12th Ave lease which is coming to an end this summer. The decision adds a wobble to the neighborhood beer community’s orbit.

“This place, from the start, has been a neighborhood spot. It’s small, it’s cozy, it’s unpretentious. People, especially within a few blocks radius, have been coming here since the beginning,” co-owner Gabriel Villenave said. “We have a very strong regular community. Some were here on opening day ten years ago.”

The ownership recipe at the Capitol Hill nanobrewery squeezed in a 12th Ave micro-apartment building has changed before with new owners joining co-founder Renato Martins over the years.

There are a few factors at play in the search for new brewers to captain the Outer Planet ship including one well known black hole.

“The pandemic really fucked things up,” said Martins. Continue reading →

Seattle crowds protest Trump’s federal layoffs at the VA, USFS, CDC, FAA, EPA, IRS and more

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(Image: Alex Garland/CHS)

A crowd two to three thousand strong gathered around Seattle’s Federal Building Monday for a Presidents’ Day demonstration in support of federal workers caught up in the Trump administration’s ruthless attempts to shrink the government.

Some 10,000 federal workers across agencies including the CDC, FAA, EPA, and IRS have already been let go with threats of more to follow. Continue reading →

Seattle Department of Transportation $1.55B levy plan includes Broadway safety improvements, E Union ‘Revival,’ and transit safety

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The Seattle City Council’s transportation committee Tuesday will hear a report on the city’s plan for delivering projects under the $1.55 billion levy approved by voters in November.

CHS reported here on the record-sized levy and its focus on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has released its plan for how it will spend $177 million of the levy funds in 2025. The plan comes as Mayor Bruce Harrell seeks a new leader for the department after the departure of Greg Spotts earlier this month.

A roster of Capitol Hill and Central District-area projects are included in the 2025 plan but don’t mistake it for a list of projects that will be completed this year.

“The Levy Delivery Plan shares projects starting planning, design, construction, or maintenance in 2025,” SDOT says about the process. “Because some projects take 3+ years from inception through construction, work in 2025 lays the foundation for next 8 years.”

There are lots of items in the plan to look forward to.

Some $16 million in safety spending will include “HIGH-COLLISION SAFETY PROJECTS” at Broadway and Pike, Broadway and Union, and Harvard and Pike among dozens of other locations across the city, according to the plan. Continue reading →

Bright flowers, fond memories, and Nike high tops at The Wildrose celebration of Shelley Brothers

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The life, love, and hard work of Shelley Brothers was remembered Sunday on Capitol Hill.

People flowed into E Pike’s The Wildrose through the day and into the night leaving bright flowers at a growing memorial inside the neighborhood lesbian bar. Yes, there were many lovely roses.

Brothers, the longtime co-owner of the bar with Martha Manning, died Sunday, January 2nd. She was 67. CHS remembered Brothers here as a modest and tireless part of the Capitol Hill community who saw the ‘Rose’s place in the city as a safe home against the challenges of life faced by lesbian communities. “Many of our customers come from areas where there’s not any type of gay bar, much less a lesbian bar,” Brothers told CHS a decade ago. Continue reading →

Seattle Presidents’ Day protest planned for Cal Anderson Park

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A planned Presidents’ Day demonstration in Cal Anderson Park will be joined by more protests in Seattle Monday including a planned rally outside the downtown Federal Building protesting the Trump administration’s wave of firings of government employees.

Organizers are calling on demonstrators to gather in the Capitol Hill park through the day Monday beginning around noon as part of the nationwide “50501” — 50 protests in 50 states on one day — effort.

It is unclear how many will attend the Seattle demonstrations. Protests in the city and on Capitol Hill have so far drawn smaller crowds than the strong backlash the grew in response to the start of the first Trump administration nine years ago. With a central location and proximity to downtown plus strong public transit, Cal Anderson has remained a center of activity. Continue reading →

911 | SPD reports two surprise drug busts as fire turns up magic mushrooms on First Hill, cops spy fentanyl and meth in Cal Anderson

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • First Hill magic mushroom bust: A fire in a First Hill apartment building turned up what police says appeared to be a “drug lab” for thousands of dollars worth of magic mushrooms set up inside the unit. Seattle Fire called its hazmat team to the 8th Ave building around 5 PM Saturday to investigate the lab that was discovered during an unrelated small fire.
    While rendering the scene safe the SFD used a chemical tester to check for hazardous/explosive materials and found the presence of cocaine. There also appeared to be drug manufacturing equipment present in the apartment.
    SPD says it obtained a search warrant and was seizing the cocaine and “illicit mushrooms” when the resident of the apartment returned. SPD says the suspect was placed under arrest for possession with intent to distribute narcotics and says 1,046 grams of mushrooms were recovered along with a trace amount of cocaine. “It appears the other chemistry equipment in the apartment was being used to sterilize containers for the distribution of the mushrooms and/or cocaine,” SPD says. In 2021, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution “declaring that the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of anyone engaging in entheogen-related activities should be among Seattle’s lowest law enforcement priorities.”
  • Cal Anderson drug bust: SPD says its officers were “proactively protecting the Seattle community and removing dangerous drugs from the streets, holding drug dealers accountable” Saturday night when a group made the job easy:
    At 1826 hours, officers were patrolling around Cal Anderson Park, near the intersection of East Denny Way and Nagel Place, when they noticed a group of individuals gathered closely together on a concrete structure in the park. While observing the group, the officers saw a small clear plastic box containing a white powdery substance resting on one suspect’s lap. Additionally, they noticed the suspect holding a small clear baggie, which the officers believed was intended for packaging narcotics.
    SPD reports officers took the suspect into custody, “and during a search incident to the arrest, they found 101.9 grams of fentanyl, 8.5 grams of methamphetamine, and $655 in cash inside the suspect’s bag.” “Based on their experience, the officers concluded that the suspect was likely involved in selling and/or delivering drugs,” the report concludes.
  • E Cherry DUI arrest: SPD says it arrested a 57-year-old “prolific DUI driver” for crashing into a pole in the Central District:
    On Feb. 14 at about 2 a.m., a police Lieutenant was on patrol near 23rd Avenue and East Cherry Street when he witnessed a single-vehicle collision. The driver exited a parking lot, drove across four lanes of traffic, through a crosswalk, and hit a pedestrian signal pole on the northeast corner. The Lt. determined the man was driving under the influence (DUI) and arrested him. He has a felony conviction for DUI, and previous convictions for Driving While License Suspended 1st Degree and an Ignition Interlock Device Violation. The suspect was transported to the East Precinct for DUI processing. Officers conducted an analysis of his breath, and he was impaired by alcohol more than double the legal limit. He was booked into the King County Jail for DUI-Four or More Prior Offenses, and Ignition Interlock Violation.
    “Noteworthy is that the driver had been arrested/released for felony DUI, IIL, and DWLS-1 in the past 48 hours by KCSO, his second DUI arrest in 2 weeks,” SPD reports. Police say the suspect was being held on $750,000 bail after the arrest.

 

HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month. 

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