Tag Archives: courts

Defendant in Jonny Adamow murder case pleads not guilty

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From the SPD report on the investigation

The man charged with first degree murder in the deadly December 31st shooting of Jonny Adamow at Broadway and Pike has pleaded not guilty.

Charles Hickman appeared in court Wednesday to answer to the charge.

CHS reported here on his arrest earlier this month as police said they had evidence and eyewitnesses placing Hickman at the scene and proving he was the gunman captured on security video firing from behind an E Pike utility pole in the deadly late night ambush. Police say Hickman was targeting another person at the busy intersection when he fired off 10 rounds. One hit Adamow who died of a gunshot wound in the back.

At Wednesday’s plea hearing, lawyers for Hickman convinced the judge in the case to bar photography or video showing the defendant’s face claiming that media coverage could bias potential jurors. In the motion, Hickman’s legal team says the defendant was arrested, in part, thanks to media coverage of the December 31st killing but did not provide further details.

Hickman, 23, was arrested by federal authorities April 7th and booked into King County Jail that afternoon. He remains held on $2 million bail. His lawyers say Hickman has never been convicted of a crime.

A trial date is currently set for mid-May but could be continued to a later date.

 

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Keep Denny Blaine Nude? Neighbors sue city over ‘public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking’

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(Image: Denny Blaine Park for All)

Homeowners in the wealthy neighborhood surrounding Denny Blaine Park and nude beach are suing the city over its management of the lakefront public space.

“It is now a regional venue for criminal and uncivil behavior that includes public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking that prevents fire trucks and ambulances from reaching neighborhood homes,” the complaint from lawyers representing the Denny Blaine Park for All “association of concerned neighbors” reads.

The lawsuit was sent to Seattle media and television stations this week but is not yet available from the King County Superior Court.

The Seattle Times posted a copy of the complaint Wednesday.

The lawsuit from Seattle’s Foster Garvey PC firm is a major wrinkle in any efforts hoped to bridge the gaps between area homeowners, Seattle Parks, and the nudist and queer communities working to “Keep Denny Blaine Nude” while also addressing concerns about access, cleanliness, and safety around the park. Continue reading →

Another delay as sentencing in Elijah Lewis murder trial postponed to May

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Already a delayed journey, the path to justice in the Elijah Lewis murder case will stretch out for three more weeks.

“Barring extraordinary circumstances, this will be the last continuance,” King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell vowed in his decision last week to grant a final continuance for the sentencing hearing for defendant Patrick Cooney.

In February, Cooney was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and first degree assault for the April 2023 scooter road rage shooting that took the life of the 23-year-old Lewis at the corner of Broadway and Pine. Continue reading →

Murder charge: Marshals track down suspect in deadly December 31st shooting at Broadway and Pike

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From the SPD report on the investigation

Police say Hickman was identified with the help of security video and witness accounts at the scene

A 23-year-old Bellevue man has been arrested by U.S. Marshals and charged with the December 31st murder of Jonny Adamow at Broadway and Pike.

The office of the King County Prosecuting Attorney says Charles Hickman has been charged with first degree murder in the deadly late night ambush in which police say Hickman was targeting another person at the busy intersection.

Hickman was arrested by federal authorities Monday and booked into King County Jail that afternoon. He is held on $2 million bail.

Police have been searching for the suspect since the night of the murder. Prosecutors say detectives were able to identify the man through “video capturing unique identifying details and information from the witnesses present at the scene.” Continue reading →

Family calls on Congress to probe unsolved killing of teen at CHOP camp

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Mays Jr.

A CHS reader shared this image from the night Mays Jr. was shot and killed on 12th Ave (Image: CHS)

The father of a 16-year-old shot and killed in a slaying inside the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest is calling on Congress to probe the city’s actions five years ago and the Seattle Police Department’s investigation into the shooting that left his son mortally wounded in a bullet-riddled jeep on 12th Ave in the midst of a chaotic, dangerous night in the protest camp.

Lawyers for Antonio Mays Sr. have called on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to hold a hearing on the deadly shooting that remains unsolved by Seattle Police. Continue reading →

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.

UPDATE: The sentencing hearing has been continued to late April.

 

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City of Seattle faces wage theft lawsuit over problems with new payroll system

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The City of Seattle is facing a wage theft lawsuit over errors from a new system that handles payroll for its more than 13,000 workers.

The new suit alleges the city’s implementation of the Workday payroll system has caused “problems related to underpayments, incorrect paycheck deductions, missing leave accruals, and excessive overpayment deductions,” Geekwire reports. Continue reading →

Suspect charged with murder in shooting over scooter at 12th and Spruce encampment

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Screenshot

Prosecutors have filed murder charges against the man arrested in last weekend’s deadly shooting during a dispute over an electric scooter at a 12th Ave encampment.

William Bender, 30, is charged with second degree murder and unlawful possession of a handgun in the killing at the camp. The suspect has past arrests for burglary, malicious mischief, trespass, and violating a domestic violence protection order among other convictions. He is being held in King County Jail on $2 million bail.

CHS reported here on details of the early Saturday killing of 38-year-old Carl Hatfield who witnesses said beat up Bender who was reportedly trying to sell a scooter that morning at the camp. Police say one witness told them Hatfield was shot while riding the scooter after having taken it from Bender over a dispute over a stolen phone. Continue reading →

Seattle’s first — and only — STAY OUT OF DRUG AREA ORDER issued on Capitol Hill

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A screenshot of a Seattle "STAY OUT OF DRUG AREA ORDER" for SODA Zone 4 on Capitol Hill

The Seattle Times reports that the city’s new criminal banishment zones aren’t being used by police or the justice system and only one person has so far been banned from a zone — a person arrested for drug use on Capitol Hill.

According to Seattle Municipal Court records obtained by CHS, the lone Seattle “STAY OUT OF DRUG AREA ORDER” was issued in December in a bust for smoking fentanyl outside the Harvard Market QFC.

“I observed XXX had a ‘tooter’ straw in her mouth. She had a piece of tin foil held up under the tooter straw,” the redacted SPD report on the incident reads. “Beneath the tin foil, XXX apparently had a lighter she used to ignite something on the surface of the tin foil and inhale the resulting smoke through the tooter straw.” Continue reading →

Private equity firm behind Rudy’s Barbershop has deal to cut off bankruptcy threat

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The E Pine original (Image: Rudy’s Barbershop)

The company now behind Capitol HIll-born beauty brand Rudy’s Barbershop and a handful of PNW standards collected by the private equity firm during the pandemic has reached a deal hoped to help the company from being forced into bankruptcy.

Sortis Brands reached the agreement and averted a key hearing last week with a group of creditors engaged in a federal court battle that could have forced the company into bankruptcy over a disputed $8 million in debt.

Details of the arrangement still need to be approved by Oregon’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court but The Oregonian reports the proposed settlement has tentatively staved off liquidation for the company. Continue reading →