Man, 21, receives 25 years in prison for 2022 fatal Kent shooting

A 21-year-old Seattle man received a reduced sentence of 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting one man and injuring three others during incidents two years ago in Kent and Seattle.

King County Superior Court Judge Averil Rothrock sentenced Dijion Ray Taylor-Johnson on Oct. 11 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent for first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree assault. He fatally shot Reese Gainer, 23, and injured two others at the Irwin Park Apartments, 25822 110th Ave. SE. His third assault charge was a shooting in Seattle the same day as the Aug. 28, 2022 Kent shootings.

The judge followed the sentencing recommendation of the state and the defense, which agreed to a plea by Taylor-Johnson “after careful negotiations by the parties in consideration of the evidence, victim input and an expert mitigation report provided to the state by the defense.”

Taylor-Johnson could have faced a sentence of up to 41 years for first-degree murder under guidelines set by the Legislature, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He received the minimum of the sentence range on the murder and the assaults (53 to 70 months) and will serve the sentences concurrently.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Wicks filed a pre-sentence report for the agreed recommendation on the length of the sentence.

Wicks said Taylor-Johnson, 19 at the time of the shooting, had no prior criminal history and took responsibility for his actions with his guilty plea. The attorney also filed a forensic mental health evaluation for more details on Taylor-Johnson’s traumatic life, mental health diagnosis and mitigating factors that were considered by the parties in reaching their plea agreement.

A psychologist summarized in the evaluation that fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, as well as factors related to adolescent development and culpability, in addition to scientific literature recognizing the continuation of brain development well into young adulthood played a role in the incident. The doctor also concluded that the relative immaturity of those with a history of childhood abuse and prenatal substance exposure were factors.

“As a result of his overall mental condition, Dijion’s capacity to fully appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct and to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was significantly impaired at the time of the alleged offenses,” according to the evaluation.

Taylor-Johnson suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, according to the report. Prior to his birth, his biological mother had reported daily use of crack cocaine during her pregnancy, including the day before she gave birth. Taylor-Johnson tested positive for cocaine at birth. Documents indicated the mother had used cocaine, marijuana and tobacco while pregnant.

After his birth, Taylor-Johnson was placed in the Pediatric Interim Care Center, a specialized nursery in Kent for substance exposed babies with special needs. He was then placed in foster care and later adopted in 2005. He then bounced between family members over the next several years because “nobody wanted me to stay with them,” Taylor-Johnson said, due to his behavorial problems. He said he moved 12 to 13 times.

Prosecutors charged Taylor-Johnson in October 2022. Auburn Police arrested Taylor-Johnson in September 2022 in an unrelated shooting and he was tied to the Kent case.

The shooting at the Kent apartment reportedly came as Taylor-Johnson feared a revenge shooting from a man (not Gainer) he had shot and injured earlier in the day in Seattle, according to charging papers. Taylor-Johnson said he went to the apartment that he had been asked to move out of to retrieve some of his belongings, and the man he earlier shot in Seattle was at the Kent apartment.

King County prosecutors also have charged J’Lijah Lee Garcia, 19, of Auburn, with first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault for the Irwin Park Apartment shooting, where at least 22 shots were fired. Garcia has a court hearing Nov. 18 and a trial date of Dec. 16. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During an interview with detectives, Taylor-Johnson claimed Garcia fired all of the shots. But detectives interviews with other witnesses indicated two people fired shots.

Kent Police arrested Garcia in December 2023. Garcia remains in the King County Correctional Facility with bail set at $2.5 million, according to jail records.

When police officers arrived at the apartment, they found one man conscious outside the rear sliding glass door, according to police documents. He had been shot at least twice in the upper portion of his back. Another man had multiple gunshot wounds and was laying on the living room floor. Gainer was unconscious and laying near the other man on the living room floor. He had multiple gunshot wounds.

Gainer later died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He suffered four gunshot wounds, two went through his head and caused his death, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

In addition to the Kent charges, Garcia faces two counts of drive-by shooting, one for reportedly firing shots about 90 minutes after the Kent shooting at a Safeway gas station on Rainier Avenue South in Seattle, and the other count for a shooting Aug. 5, 2022 at a gas station in the 17200 block of 140th Avenue SE in Fairwood.

Taylor-Johnson initially had been scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6, but that hearing was continued when he refused to be transferred from jail to appear at the hearing. Prosecutors filed a motion for reasonable force to compel Taylor-Johnson to appear for his sentencing hearing Oct. 11, which the judge granted.

When he was killed, Gainer was in the process of moving to Washington from Atlanta, Georgia. Gainer and another man were temporarily staying at the Kent apartment after they had just arrived Aug. 26 from Atlanta. They were looking for a place to live.

Taylor-Johnson reportedly got in an argument at a Seattle apartment with two of the men that led to the initial shooting, according to court documents.