A 24-year-old Auburn man pleaded guilty Tuesday, Dec. 23 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to committing a hate crime for his 2024 attack in Kent on a Black woman riding a King County Metro bus.
Adan C. Hernandez-Mayoral is scheduled for sentencing in front of Judge James L. Robart on March 17, according to a Dec. 23 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
According to records filed in the case, on March 7, 2024, Hernandez-Mayoral made derogatory comments about Black people while he was riding a King County Metro bus. When a Black woman on the bus looked to see who was making racist comments, he yelled at her not to look at him and made more comments, including referring to the woman as “Rosa Parks” and asking her to move to the back of the bus.
The woman walked to the front of the bus to call the police and Hernandez-Mayoral followed.
When the bus stopped, Hernandez-Mayoral pushed the woman off the bus and assaulted her. He pulled out a knife that he thrust at the woman’s abdomen numerous times before running away. The woman was wearing a heavy coat that prevented the knife from reaching her skin. Nevertheless, the assault caused bodily injury.
As Kent Police searched for the suspect in the attack, a neighbor called police reporting a man hiding in their yard. The clothing matched that of the assailant shown on the Metro surveillance video. Hernandez-Mayoral was arrested hiding under a car a short distance from the scene of the assault.
Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 57 months (four years, nine months) to be served concurrently with any sentence imposed in the King County Superior and District court cases involving Hernandez-Mayoral. Judge Robart is not bound by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law.
The case was investigated by the Kent Police Department and the FBI.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided substantial assistance and worked closely with federal prosecutors on this case.
“These crimes are crimes under both state and federal law (dual jurisdiction),” according to an email from Emily Langlie, a DOJ spokesperson. “In cases where we have dual jurisdiction and the state has an interest in the prosecution under state law, we work closely with the state to reach a just resolution.
“Here, the state (King County prosecutors) charged Hernandez-Mayoral first, with state-law assault with/deadly weapon and state-law hate crime, and we worked closely with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to transfer jurisdiction to federal court for a plea to a federal crime. The state agreed to dismiss their charges after a plea/sentencing in federal court.”
Langlie said the reference to concurrence with other state crimes by Hernandez-Mayoral is for unrelated criminal conduct in a state case that has already been resolved.
According to county charging documents, Hernandez-Mayoral has convictions in King County of second-degree robbery in 2020, third-degree assault domestic violence in 2019 and felony harassment domestic violence in 2019.
Hernandez-Mayoral remained in custody Dec. 23 at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle, according to jail records. He was orginally booked on county charges and then switched to a federal hold when the DOJ took over the case.
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