A 33-year-old Seattle man faces a second-degree murder charge after King County prosecutors amended a first-degree assault charge following the death in April of a Kent auto mechanic he allegedly attacked in 2024.
The amended charging papers were filed Tuesday, July 1 by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office after a ruling June 24 by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office that Elvis Anolin Duran-Reyes, 56, died April 24 from head injuries he sustained in the May 8, 2024 attack and that the manner of death is homicide.
Duran-Reyes was severely beaten in May 2024 at his shop reportedly over a payment dispute. He died April 24 still trying to recover from his injuries. The initial medical examiner’s report on April 28 listed the cause and manner of death as pending.
Abdi Osman Abdi, of Seattle, allegedly punched and kicked Duran-Reyes after showing up May 8, 2024 at V.M. Auto Repair, 20435 84th Ave. S., according to charging documents filed last year and amended this week by King County prosecutors.
Alex Muir, senior deputy prosecuting attorney, also requested that bail be set at $2 million, according to the amended charging documents.
Abdi has a court hearing scheduled for July 9 and a potential trial date of Sept. 15, according to court records. He was booked May 29, 2024 into the King County jail and released June 13, 2024 on bail, according to jail records. A judge set bail on the assault charge at $50,000.
Katrina Ven, of Seattle, the daughter of Duran-Reyes, first reported his death in April on GoFundMe.
“On May 8, 2024, my father suffered a severe traumatic brain injury as the result of a brutal assault,” Ven wrote. “From that moment on, I did everything in my power to help him. He spent 11 months in a vegetative state in a skilled nursing facility.”
The attack highly impacted the family of Duran-Reyes.
“That day in May changed all of our lives forever,” Ven wrote on GoFundMe. “My father was in the ICU for the first four months since the attack. He was later discharged to a skilled nursing home where he improved but did not come out of the vegetative state. He was then in and out of the hospital due to many complications linked to his brain injury, and I was by his side every step of the way. I held on to hope and prayed he would come back to us, but that day never came.”
Ven said that her dad was a hardworking man—a self-made mechanic who built his shop from the ground up.
“He poured his heart into his work and into providing for his family,” she said. “Despite our efforts to keep his shop running, we eventually had to let it go. That loss was not just financial, but deeply emotional as well.”
Charging documents against Abdi described the attack.
“In this unprovoked, violent attack, the defendant pushed the victim into a metal pole knocking the victim to the ground,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen A. Herschkowitz in charging documents filed May 31, 2024. “The defendant then dragged the victim out of a workshop and then proceeded to punch him then stomp on his head numerous times causing significant injuries.”
Kent Police officers responded at about 2:59 p.m. May 8, 2024 to a physical assault in progress at the auto repair shop. A witness guided officers to Duran-Reyes laying on the ground unconscious, according to charging papers. Paramedics transported Duran-Reyes to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Detectives learned that a man (later identified as Abdi) arrived with a female and entered the business through the garage, according to court documents. Abdi reportedly yelled at Duran-Reyes and pushed him backwards into a metal pole before he fell to the ground.
Abdi then repeatedly punched the man in the face before dragging him outside of the garage and kicking him in the head about five times, according to charging documents. Abdi then entered a vehicle with a female and they drove away before police arrived.
Detectives learned that there was a dispute between Duran-Reyes and Abdi regarding money, either Abdi had paid for half of his vehicle repairs or hadn’t paid at all. A green car stored behind the garage reportedly belonged to Abdi, which detectives confirmed through a state Department of Licensing records check.
Police used video surveillance from surrounding businesses to reportedly connect a black Toyota RAV4 to the incident. Detectives tracked down the vehicle to a Kent woman, whose state Department of Licensing photo reportedly matched the description of the woman in the video of the attack.
Detectives watched the woman’s residence and saw her drive away in a Toyota RAV4. They followed the woman to a Kent apartment complex and saw her enter an apartment.
Police eventually determined through cellphone records that Abdi reportedly ran an online clothing business out of the apartment. Records also indicated that Abdi traveled from Seattle to the area of the crime near the repair shop and then to the Kent apartment in the 25800 block of 113th Avenue SE, according to charging documents.
Police arrested Abdi on May 29, 2024 in Kent. Abdi reportedly told detectives he assaulted Duran-Reyes when he first arrived at the shop and then lost his temper after Duran-Reyes allegedly spit in his face. He said he knocked Duran-Reyes out with a punch and kicked him in the head several times.
Prior to the attack, Abdi had allegedly sent threatening text messages to Duran-Reyes, according to charging papers.
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