Auburn man pleads not guilty to killing Kent-Meridian student

A 20-year-old Auburn man pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the June 2024 shooting of a Kent-Meridian High School student.

Jorge Mauricio Gonzalez Alvarado entered his plea June 25 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to court documents. Gonzalez Alvarado has a pretrial court hearing July 21 and a trial date of Aug. 18, although that is expected to be continued as attorneys ask for more time to prepare the case.

Gonzalez Alvarado remains in custody at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle with bail set at $3 million, according to jail records.

Gonzalez Alvarado and a 16-year-old Auburn boy, allegedly caused the death of Cristopher Yahir Medina-Zelaya, 18, during the attempted robbery of marijuana that Medina-Zelaya had agreed to sell to them on June 3, 2024 at the city of Kent’s Campus Park, next to the high school, according to charging documents filed June 11 by King County prosecutors. Medina-Zelaya died from a gunshot wound of the head, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Kent Reporter is not naming the juvenile because he has not been formally charged in adult court. A court hearing scheduled for Jan. 12, 2026 before a judge will consider the state’s motion to move the case to adult court, according to a June 18 email from a King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson, who also confirmed the boy is in custody at the Patricia Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle. The boy was 15 years old at the time of the shooting.

Kent Police arrested Gonzalez Alvarado on June 9. Federal Way Police arrested the juvenile June 6 on an unrelated charge.

Gonzalez Alvarado allegedly drove the car to help the juvenile flee the scene after the early afternoon killing, according to charging documents.

Gonzalez Alvarado communicated with other participants about the plan, including the juvenile accomplice who orchestrated the robbery through his direct messaging with Medina-Zelaya over Instagram, according to charging documents. Gonzalez Alvarado reportedly was aware that others with him would be armed with a firearm and they needed his assistance to drive from the scene.

The 16-year-old juvenile allegedly set up the drug deal and planned the robbery, according to charging papers. Police have not made any other arrests in the case.