Kent woman dies from injury suffered in West Hill apartment shooting

A 41-year-old Kent woman, one of three people shot June 29 inside a Kent West Hill apartment, has died.

Shawntae Tucker died July 8 at a Seattle hospital from a gunshot wound of the head, according to a July 10 media report by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Tucker shared an apartment with her boyfriend at the BLVD Apartments, 2110 S. 272nd St. The boyfriend was shot and injured, according to Kent Police reports. Jack Rainford, 29, who was visiting the apartment, died June 30 from a gunshot wound of the head, according to the medical examiner.

King County prosecutors on July 6 charged Chucco Lavarr Robinson, 46, of Seattle, with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree attempted murder. With the death of Tucker, prosecutors will change one of the attempted murder charges to murder. Tucker’s boyfriend survived his injuries, according to charging papers.

Robinson had reportedly been staying with Tucker and her boyfriend at the apartment for about a week, according to court documents. He has known her boyfriend for about 30 years.

Robinson fled in a vehicle after the shooting. Des Moines Police arrested him July 3 after Kent Police tracked down that Robinson could be a suspect and the type of vehicle he was driving. Des Moines Police spotted him in that vehicle and took him into custody without incident.

The friend of Robinson told police that Robinson reportedly acted paranoid prior to the shootings and thought his friend might have been hired to shoot him, according to charging documents. Robinson then allegedly shot his friend, Rainford and Tucker. The friend fled the apartment after he was shot and then heard more shots as he ran away.

Robinson is being held without bail at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. July 2o in the GA Courtroom at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. If found guilty as charged, Robinson faces a possible sentence of life in prison, according to charging papers.

Robinson declined to talk to detectives after his arrest.

13th homicide of 2023

This will mark the 13th homicide in Kent in 2023, according to numbers compiled by the Kent Reporter from the Kent Police Department and King County Medical Examiner’s Office. Five of the homicides were in June incidents. Kent had 11 homicides in 2022, 14 in 2021, eight in 2020, four in 2019 and seven in 2018.