Man says he’s ‘truly sorry’ for Kent Denny’s shooting that hurt 5

Frank Evans III says he is “truly sorry” for his Kent shooting that injured five people in 2007 at Denny’s restaurant and that he’s “not the same person who committed an awful crime many years ago.”

Evans, 41, issued a lengthy statement through his attorney in response to a Kent Reporter request for his reaction to Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision Jan. 10 to grant him a conditional commutation that will reduce his prison sentence by 17 years when he’s released in January 2026. The Kent Reporter reported on Inslee’s decision in a Jan. 17 article.

“Lives have forever been altered by the magnitude of my actions, and the victims of my crime, and everyone who was present for my crime, will continue to deal with them,” Evans said. “I recognize how unfair that is to the people physically harmed and those mentally and emotionally affected by my actions. My actions were not provoked by anyone, nor was the situation escalated by anybody in the restaurant on the day of my crime or by any of the victims.”

Evans, age 23 at the time of the shooting, walked into the restaurant shortly after 2 a.m. Jan. 27, 2007, at 1246 Central Ave. N., intoxicated and demanded that a group of people immediately leave “his table,” according to court documents. After picking a fight, Evans left the restaurant and returned with a gun. Evans stepped in the door and fired off 11 rounds, injuring five people. Steven Tolenoa, struck by the gunfire, was left paralyzed from the neck down. He died in 2020 at age 41, months after contracting pneumonia.

“I am truly sorry for what I did to everyone directly affected by my crime and the people who love them,” Evans said. “I cannot express that enough. I don’t expect my victims to forgive me for what I have done. The lasting damage I caused to innocent people is what I will have to live with for the rest of my life – and it is fair that I have to carry that with me until I die.”

Inslee issued his decision during his final days in office. It came after the state’s Clemency and Pardons Board recommendation, on a 5-0 vote in September 2023, to the governor that he reduce the sentence for Evans. Evans has 18 years remaining on a 36-year sentence.

“I am incredibly grateful to the governor, the entire clemency board and the numerous of people who were, and continue to be, involved in the clemency process on my case,” Evans said. “What I am most grateful for, honestly, is that, despite the awful nature of my crime, some people were able to see that I had grown since committing my crime. The governor’s decision to commute a large portion of my sentence shows me that he believes I have undergone a personal transformation and that he has confidence that I will now impact our communities in a positive way.”

Kathryn Leathers, general counsel for the governor’s office, announced Inslee’s decision in a Jan. 13 email to Jennifer Horwitz, the Seattle attorney for Evans.

“He has placed his faith in Mr. Evans that he will dedicate himself to living an exemplary life and remaining trouble-free,” Leathers said. “By granting this extremely rare relief, the Governor’s Office encourages Mr. Evans to realize his aspirations and to never again commit a crime.”

Evans explained how he turned around his life.

“I came into prison as a 23- year-old immature boy,” Evans said. “I initially received a 63-year sentence that truly felt like a life sentence to me at the time it was imposed. I had nothing to look forward to but a prison cell for the rest of my life. Initially, I felt that going to prison took my life.

“But, the reality was that being in prison actually gave me life. I was faced with a choice: either to continue down the same path that led me to prison or create a new path for myself. I chose the new path, even though I knew it would not be easy. I had some hard and honest conversations with myself, identifying the wrong choices and options I picked. This was largely a result of the negative environments I grew up under, although that is not an excuse for what I did, and never will be. I came to some realizations that made it so much easier to separate myself from that life.”

Evans said he read a lot in prison.

“I began reading self-help books and applying what I learned to my daily life,” Evans said. “What I learned from those books changed how I processed things. My attitude and energy were becoming more and more positive because I felt like I was living my life for me now and not others. I was choosing to do things that aligned with my new mindset, values and outlook on life. I decided to diffuse situations instead of escalating them, I looked for safer options other than violence in situations that could have turned violent.

“In doing so, I became a leader and someone others began turning to for advice. Other inmates noticed how I conducted myself and I became a model for others that wanted to grow in the same way. To me being an example for others was conformation I was growing and evolving into a new person. I was happy with the man I was transforming into, but I wished I had learned to be this new man before coming to prison. Since I could not go back in time, the next best thing to do was to share my new way of thinking with others and lead by example.”

Those actions by Evans impressed the Clemency and Pardons Board and Inslee. Board member Raymond Delos Reyes, an attorney who provides public defense services in King County, came away impressed with Evans after his testimony during the December hearing.

“Hearing from Mr. Evans was the most powerful thing I heard today,” Delos Reyes said.

He hopes Evans follows up on his plan to do work in the community.

“South Seattle is being ripped apart by gun violence, things you want to have impact on. …south Seattle needs you,” he said.

Evans appreciated the words spoken by board members during his hearing.

“I was further inspired by Mr. (Doug) Baldwin and Mr. (Raymond) Reyes, who said South Seattle needs someone like me,” Evans said. “I hope to have the full support of them both in doing the work our communities need to be safer. The nonprofit will be called Adolescent Choices Elevated (ACE) and we will give youth a safe and positive environment, as well as create goals and pathways for young people to attain them.”

By talking to other inmates, Evans learned a lot about ways to try to help people get out of gangs.

“During my time in prison, I began to engage in conversations with some of the younger men I was in prison with, when we found ourselves together in common areas. I would share some of the things I learned, and how we all could do better if we really wanted to,” Evans said. “These conversations made me realize we all picked gangs or ‘street life’ for acceptance and a feeling of financial stability.

“That’s when I began to realize that I would need to reach the youth before the gang life became too embedded in them. This is what has inspired me to plan to start a nonprofit once I’m released.”

A King County Superior Court jury convicted Evans, of Kent, of five counts of first-degree assault with five gun enhancements, and a judge sentenced him in 2008 to 63 years in prison. A King County judge reduced that sentence to 36 years in 2020 after a state Supreme Court decision about another case that requires a trial court to consider specific factors when sentencing a juvenile (or young) offender, including immaturity, impetuosity and the impact of familial and peer pressures.

“While I was serving my sentence, the Court set a hearing to reconsider my sentence, based on some issues that were not fully presented at the time of my original sentencing,” Evans said. “My sentence was reduced from the original sentence to 36 years. By the time I am released in January 2026, I will have served more than half of that sentence.”

Evans remains in custody at Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, according to state Department of Corrections prison records, but previously was housed at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Horwitz, his attorney, appreciated the decisions by the board and Inslee.

“I am very grateful that the Clemency and Pardons Board and the governor were able to see that Mr. Evans had undergone a personal transformation with significant reflection and hard work over many years,” Horwitz said. “I am humbled by the hard work so many people put into this result – all of the people supporting Mr. Evans, the board and counsel to the governor, who worked very hard to help the governor make his decision.”

Horwitz expects a positive impact on the community after Evans gets released next year. Evans is expected to live with his brother in Kent.

“When Mr. Evans is released, he will be an asset to his community, and he will continue to find ways to repay his community for the second chance he was given and the harm he caused so many years ago,” Horwitz said.

Evans will focus on helping troubled youth improve their lives.

“I’m also working on a curriculum that will take their choices, whether right or wrong, and project the possible or likely end-result, so as to help them to make smarter choices,” he said. “I now have an incredible opportunity to leave prison after serving about 19 years in confinement. I’m well aware that life will not be easy and that I’ll be faced with many obstacles. However, I now have the proper tools to navigate life as a law-abiding citizen and I am so lucky to have a huge support system of family and friends. These assets will help ensure that I have a successful reentry. I look forward to continuing to be a role model and an example that a person can always change their life around for the better if they have the desire, the will and the commitment to do so.”

Evans looks forward to proving that the Clemency and Pardons Board and Inslee made the right choices.

“The governor’s decision to release me recognizes that I have grown and changed and am not the same person who committed an awful crime many years ago,” Evans said. “I am incredibly grateful to have gotten the chance to become a better person and that the Clemency and Pardons Board and ultimately the governor were able to see that I have changed. I will work every day after my release to continue to re-pay my debt to society and to show that I am more than the crime that I committed and that I can be a positive force in the very community that I hurt.”

Jennifer Horwitz, attorney for Frank Evans. COURTESY IMAGE, TVW Washington