Man found not guilty in Kent fatal shooting of mother’s boyfriend

A King County Superior Court jury found a then-20-year-old man acted in self-defense to aid his mother when he fatally shot her boyfriend in 2022 at a Kent house.

The jury found Dondre Butler, 22, not guilty of second-degree murder when the five-week trial wrapped up July 8 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Opening statements began June 10.

Butler fired at least eight shots to kill Carlos Middleton, 45, on Oct. 29, 2022 at a house in the 14300 block of SE 282nd Street, where all three lived, according to charging papers.

The jury agreed on a special verdict form for self-defense that Butler proved “by a preponderance of the evidence that he acted in self-defense of himself or in aid of another who was in imminent danger of assault or murder,” according to court documents.

Middleton pushed Sheena Venzant, Butler’s mother, to the floor inside the front door after a dispute, according to charging papers. Butler then shot him and fled the house before three days later turning himself into Kent Police.

The jury also ruled that Butler was not engaged “in criminal activity substantially related to the events giving rise to the crime with which he was charged.”

With the not guilty verdict, Butler was released later that evening of July 8 from the King County jail, according to jail records.

Defense attorney’s reaction

Evgeniya Mordekhova, a Kirkland-based criminal defense attorney, made the case about the self-defense of others.

“I was very confident in the ‘defense-of-others’ theory,” Mordekhova said in a July 10 email to the Kent Reporter. “The state should have dismissed this case in 2022 if not decline to file it all together. It was obvious that this case was going to be about Dondre protecting his mother against the abusive boyfriend.”

Mordekhova said investigations by the defense team discovered the family had extensive documented history of domestic violence dating back to 2011.

“Since the age of 5, my client has been witnessing his mother being physically abused by various partners, including his own father,” Mordekhova said. “Since that young age, my client tried to protect his mother from violence; Dondre suffered physical abuse as a result of his efforts to keep his mother safe from physical harm.”

Mordekhova said there were two reported incidents of domestic violence with the King County Sherrif’s Office, at least two with Renton Police and at least five with Kent Police.

“The lead detective never bothered requesting the records for those incidents to make them part of the file; the detective learned about these incidents from my opening statement almost three years later,” Mordekhova said. “All of the jurors agreed that the government made a huge mistake by not gathering those records as part of the investigation. The mistake that my client ended up paying for. This should have never happened. Unforgivable injustice.”

Jurors reached their verdict in a matter of hours.

“The jury had 11 votes to acquit a few hours after they got the case,” Mordekhova said. “They had all 12 votes the following day after one of the jurors had a chance to sleep on it. Clearly, this case should have never been charged in the first place.”

Mordekhova said the state opened their case with the claim that “Carlos was a caring man.” But she said that wasn’t the truth.

“The defense produced undeniable evidence that Carlos was physically and verbally abusive to Sheena many times in the past and had a severe cocaine addiction,” said Mordekhova, who added Middleton had consumed cocaine, psilocybin (found in mushrooms) and THC (from cannabis) prior to the shooting that October night.

“In this enraged state he committed a felony level assault against Dondre’s mother while Dondre was present in the house,” she said. “He pushed the mom to the ground knocking the wind out of her. Dondre shot Carlos because he was actively assaulting his mother.”

The defense attorney said the abuse would have continued.

“If Dondre didn’t stop him that night, Carlos would continue assaulting Sheena further,” Mordekhova said.

She appreciated the work of the jurors.

“Dondre was acquitted because the jury was attentive, objective and hard-working — unlike the prosecutors in this case,” Mordekhova said. “The jury took the time to understand the evidence and to appreciate the applicable law. The 12 committed citizens forced the government to shut up — truth to power.”

Mordekhova described the reaction of Butler to the verdict.

“Dondre was relieved that the jury heard his story,” she said. “It was very hard for Dondre and his mom to sit through weeks of trial and listen to the prosecutor misrepresent their life story to the jury. The judge had to excuse the jury numerous times to keep the prosecutor in check.”

The jury awarded reimbursement to Butler because it was a self-defense acquittal.

“The (state) government will be reimbursing him to some degree,” Mordekhova said. “Dondre will never be made whole, but this should serve as a deterrent to the government from prosecuting cases that should never be filed in the first place.”

The verdict went over well with Mordekhova.

“The outcome of this case gives me hope that self-defense is not dead in the state of Washington and, its younger sibling, defense-of-others, is still alive as well,” she said.

Prosecutor’s office reaction

Despite the not guilty verdict, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office remained confident in its case.

“Prosecutors fielded this case knowing there would be a self-defense claim and – after considering the totality of the evidence, along with that claim – prosecutors did not believe it rose to the level of self-defense as defined by the law,” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in a July 11 email. “The jury disagreed, and prosecutors respect the jury’s decision.”

McNerthney said prosecutors considered that Butler had witnessed a lot of abuse by previous boyfriends of his mother.

“Prior abuse by other boyfriends is traumatic,” he said. “There is still a legal obligation to review this specific shooting individually to determine if it was legally justified or not. Prior domestic violence was known and considered. In reviewing the totality of the admissible evidence – and the key is the totality of the admissible evidence – prosecutors concluded there was sufficient evidence to bring this to a jury.”

McNerthney said the jurors awarded fees to be paid to Butler, but King County, which represents the state, won’t pay the money.

“The defense can petition state lawmakers for an amount of reimbursement, including lost wages and attorney’s fees, if any,” he said.

Closing statements

Mordekhova emphasized during her closing statement that the impact on Butler from witnessing so much domestic violence over the years against his mother led him to shooting Middleton, according to a court audio recording of the trial.

She reminded the jurors that a doctor testified that Butler suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of his exposure as early as age 5 to the domestic violence against his mother and that instead of acting his age of 20 he was more like an 8-year-old boy.

“He was protecting his mommy from an angry man,” Mordekhova told the jury.

The attorney said the law says you don’t have to run away if someone is hurting you or someone else.

“You can defend your own life or your mother in this particular scenario,” said Mordekhova, who later added, “You get to act on appearances of danger, too, you do not have to wait to see how much peril your mom is in and to find her on the floor with man standing over her.”

Mordekhova said the living room was dark the night of the shooting. Butler heard loud noises of his mother’s bedroom door flying open with Middleton and his mother going outside the house and another loud noise when they returned inside and his mother was pushed to the floor.

“If you have PTSD and hear loud noises, you have every right to be on alert,” Mordekhova said. “There was evidence of Mr. Middleton’s anger. Dondre yells for his mom, he called his mom’s name, that’s what you do when you’re afraid of mom being injured, and she did not respond …this was someone fearing his entire life his mother would be taken from him by an abusive boyfriend.”

She said it took only about two seconds to fire the eight shots and it was unclear if each of the shots hit Middleton as three bullets were removed from his body by the medical examiner. She said an expert testified that some of the bullets could have been misses, some bullets were never recovered.

“He fired the gun to neutralize the threat so that this man cannot hurt his mom,” Mordekhova said.

She said detectives later found the gun used in the shooting under a stuffy in Butler’s bedroom.

“A 20-year-old man had a gun under a stuffy,” said Mordekhova, who added that the gun belonged to Middleton.

Despite the number of shots, Butler might not have known if he had killed Middleton.

“Dondre did not see blood or evidence result of the shooting,” Mordekhova said due to the darkness in the living room. “His mother called 911 and said she can’t see him (Middleton), it was dark in the room, so how could Dondre see if the bullets accomplished their purpose and neutralized the threat? It’s a tragedy a life was taken, but what happened to Sheena is a tragedy.”

The defense attorney said detectives found no threats against Middleton in Butler’s phone or on social media.

“There was not a shred of evidence that my client was an angry man, but PTSD angry outbursts can happen,” she said.

Mordekhova advised the jurors when they gather together not to start with who thinks her client is guilty.

“You you look at the evidence, and what’s relevant,” she said.

Lauren Burke, senior deputy prosecuting attorney, began her closing statement by telling the jury that Mr. Middleton was not on trial and that he’s dead.

“Carlos is dead in response to a single shove,” Burke said. “There was no evidence he kicked her (Butler’s mother). He was standing and not saying anything.”

Burke emphasized that jurors need to decide guilty or not guilty based on facts of the case.

“You can feel pity or empathy for any of the people involved, but jury instructions say to set that aside,” she said. “You don’t get to shoot unarmed people in response to a shove.”

Burke said there was a torn white T-shirt found in the living room that belonged to Butler.

“It was torn off by Sheena (Butler’s mother) as she tried to stop him from shooting or beating Carlos Middleton,” Burke said. “He did the shooting not to protect her but out of anger.”

Burke said self-defense would be a reasonable fear if there was imminent danger of serious injury.

“But it has to be imminent or about to happen,” she said.

Burke said Middleton wasn’t going to hurt Butler or his mother. And the only signs of injury in the room were from the gunshots.

“It’s not reasonable to fire eight bullets into an unarmed person and not reasonable to kill someone who doesn’t pose a threat just because of your anger,” she said.

The shooting

Kent Police officers responded at about 10:12 p.m. Oct. 29, 2022 to 911 calls about a shooting at an East Hill home, according to charging documents. One 911 caller was Butler’s mother who said her boyfriend had been shot. The other was a neighbor who reported hearing about gunshots from the residence and a vehicle fleeing.

Sheena Venzant, Butler’s mother, told police that she and Middleton had been drinking alone at the residence. She said she was in bed when Middleton decided to leave the bedroom and took a set of keys. She said she followed Middleton out of the house and was able to grab the keys from his hand, according to court documents.

Venzant said she then ran back to the house and could hear Middleton chasing her. She said once she opened the door of the house, Middleton pushed her from behind and she fell to the floor. She said immediately afterwards her son shot Middleton multiple times and then fled the residence.

In addition to the eight to 10 shots on his torso and leg that killed Middleton, he suffered blunt force trauma injuries to his face and forehead as well as a cut lip, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. Middleton died Oct. 30, 2022, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Middleton fell forward onto a table, which caused the face and forehead injuries.

Venzant never said that Middleton was armed or appeared to have been armed, according to police. She also never said that Middleton tried to attack her on the floor or had been standing over her on the floor.

She claimed not to know where her son was and would not provide information as to the vehicle he was driving or his phone number.

A few days after the shooting, Butler turned himself in Nov. 1, 2022, at the Kent Police Station. He brought attorney James Curtis, of The Curtis Firm in Tukwila, with him. Curtis organized the man’s surrender with a detective. Detectives had been looking for Butler but had not tracked him down. Butler did not talk to detectives. Curtis later withdrew from the case.

Police executed a search warrant at the home and recovered a firearm in one of the bedrooms that reportedly belonged to Butler. Detectives also found Butler’s Social Security card in the room. They found multiple fired cartridge cases in the home.

A friend of Middleton’s told detectives that Middleton told him about six months prior to the shooting that Butler had pulled a gun on Middleton, according charging documents. Another friend told detectives that a friend of Butler’s pulled a gun on Middleton at a party thrown by a friend of Butler’s mother.

Middleton apparently left the party terrified and later told his friend that if anything happens to him, to look at his girlfriend and her son.

Home detention violations

A judge initially set bail for Butler at $1 million. On June 20, 2023, a judge approved electronic home detention for Butler, according to court documents. A judge earlier granted a defense motion to reduce bail to $100,000.

After Butler’s release on bail and electronic home detention, he had three violations in 13 months of electronic home detention, which put him back into the King County jail.

His third and final violation occurred when a King County electronic home detention caseworker tracked down Butler after he left his court-approved residence in Puyallup Oct. 20, 2024, with no prior authorization, Butler’s GPS showed that he was in the Puyallup City Jail, according to an Oct. 20, 2024, notice of violation court document.

On Sept. 18, 2023, Butler was removed from electronic home detention for violation of curfew conditions. On Oct. 10, 2023 he was reinstated to home monitoring. On March 12, 2024, Butler was removed from electronic home detention because of deviation from his approved pass, according to court documents. He was reinstated to home monitoring on July 15, 2024.

Butler missed a bond hearing Oct. 29, 2024, because he was in the Puyallup jail. Because he missed the hearing, a judge issued an $100,000 bench warrant for his arrest, which put him back in the King County jail.

Mordekhova, Butler’s defense attorney, on Oct. 30, 2024, filed a motion for Butler to be held in King County rather than Puyallup to give her better access to her client, according to court documents. She said she was assigned to Butler’s case in January 2024 after his counsel of record withdrew.

Mordekhova wrote in court documents filed to get her client back to the King County jail from Puyallup that Butler was “barely 20 years old when accused of shooting his mother’s boyfriend,” and that “self-defense” and “defense of others” are his defenses for trial.