A 15-year-old boy accused of killing two students near Rainier Beach High School in January was under court supervision for a prior case involving a firearm at the time of the murders, revealing a breakdown in monitoring that allowed him to allegedly commit a double homicide while on probation.
Seattle police arrested the teen suspect on Tuesday at his home in Renton. Records show he will turn 16 on Thursday. At a first appearance hearing on Wednesday, the teen did not come into the courtroom as prosecutors argued to keep him in secure detention while they review the case. Judge Tanya Thorpe ordered the teen held in custody and found there is probable cause for two counts of murder in the first degree and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm.
On Jan. 30, 18-year-old Tyjon Malik Stewart and 17-year-old Traveiah Houfmuse were shot and killed at the doors of a Metro bus on South Henderson Street near Rainier Avenue South, just a short distance from nearby Rainier Beach High School. Police began collecting surveillance videos, which showed the shooter was on a bus and then ambushed the teens when the bus stopped.
While the cameras on the Metro bus where the shooting happened were malfunctioning at the time, another Metro bus was approaching the same bus stop and recorded the shooting on a front-facing camera, according to an arrest report. From there, police tracked the shooter’s movements through surveillance cameras on the nearby school grounds, a tiny home village, and other buildings. Minutes after the attack, police allege the camera of a nearby home recorded the teen after he had removed a black mask he was wearing at the time of the shooting.
According to the arrest report, an anonymous tip identified the shooter a few days after the killings. Investigators learned the 15-year-old was still under court supervision for a prior case involving a shooting in Renton last summer. In that case, court records show police detained the teen while responding to a report of shots fired at Gene Coulon Park. During a stop-and-frisk search, police found a 9mm handgun on the teen.
According to a prosecutor who handled the case, the teen petitioned for court supervision for a deferred disposition, which he was statutorily entitled to do based on the charge and his lack of history. “The prosecutor did not join in the request. The judge decided to defer the disposition and placed him on supervision after considering relevant statutory factors,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
Seattle police investigators contacted a school safety officer at the teen’s school in Renton to see if he recognized the person from the surveillance videos. The officer confirmed the teen’s identity. School records show the teen was out of school for the entire week after the shooting, and has since stopped taking the bus to school. Seattle police also allege they obtained warrants for the teen’s phone that show it was connected to cell towers near Rainier Beach High School at the time of the shooting.
King County prosecutors are currently reviewing the case and have until Friday to file charges. If charges are filed, the teen is expected to appear in court on Monday afternoon. The case raises urgent questions about juvenile justice supervision and whether courts adequately monitor young offenders with firearms offenses to prevent them from committing more serious violence.
