Kent Police announced in a June the arrest of a Tacoma man for fatally shooting another Tacoma man April 7 inside Hillcrest Burial Park.
But so far, no murder charge has been filed against the 24-year-old man.
“To charge a case, we have to be certain that we can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in an Aug. 19 email. “Based on where the investigation is now and the available evidence, we don’t have the evidence to file a murder charge.”
Quinzy Williams, 25, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
McNerthney said the police investigation is ongoing, and prosecutors intend to continue to pursue the current charge against the man of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. The man remained in custody Aug. 19 at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle on the firearm charge.
Kent Police said the Valley SWAT team helped arrest the man June 15 at an apartment complex in Graham, where the man had been staying. Officers arrested the man without incident. Graham is about 16 miles southeast of Tacoma in Pierce County.
Detectives spent hundreds of hours interviewing witnesses, recovering and viewing video and processing evidence, and were able to identify the suspect, according to police.
“I am grateful to our officers and detectives who worked tirelessly to locate and apprehend the suspect in this horrible crime,” Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla said in June. “We hope that these efforts go a long way to bringing justice to the victim’s family.”
Police did not release the connection between the two men.
Williams was fatally shot at about 5:30 p.m. April 7 in the area of the Hillcrest Burial Park, 1005 Reiten Road in Kent.
Officers were dispatched to reports of shots being fired and arrived to find Williams unresponsive with gunshot wounds, according to Kent Police. The officers initiated life-saving efforts which were continued when paramedics arrived, but Williams died at the scene.
“Initial information provided indicated that a dispute erupted among the group, which escalated to gunfire,” according to a police statement. “After shots were fired the group quickly dispersed and fled the area.”
Police did not release any information about the group.
“It is believed that this incident is specific to those involved and was not a random act,” according to police.
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