The murder trial of a Seattle man accused of shooting a Renton teenager in 2008 at a Kent fast-food restaurant continues this week at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
King County prosecutors rested their case Oct. 26 against Edward Earl Cobb, 20. Cobb is charged with first-degree murder for shooting Chezaray Bacchus, 17, on July 12, 2008 at the Arby’s restaurant along East Smith Street.
Closing statements could occur next week, according to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The trial is before King County Superior Court Judge James Cayce.
Bacchus was shot and killed after attending the Kent Cornucopia Days festival with friends. Bacchus died at the scene from one shot in the shoulder that entered the chest and a second shot to the face, according to charging papers.
A preliminary investigation showed the shooting was gang-related, according to Kent Police.
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Cobb in October 2008 at a White Center home on a murder warrant for shooting Bacchus. Deputies responded to the home after a 911 domestic violence call from the girlfriend of Cobb, according to the sheriff’s office.
Cobb pleaded not guilty in November 2008 to the first-degree murder charge. Cobb is being held without bail at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center.
A couple of hours after the Kent shooting in July 2008, Cobb was shot at a Renton convenience store, according to Kent Police. Cobb survived the shooting and was released from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle before detectives connected Cobb with the Kent shooting.
Witnesses at the Kent shooting told police that Cobb allegedly walked up to Bacchus as he stood near the door to the restaurant and fired a shot from a handgun that struck Bacchus, according to charging papers.
Bacchus stumbled into the restaurant and collapsed on the floor. Cobb then reportedly walked up to Bacchus, said something, and fired a second shot at the unarmed Bacchus.
After the Kent shooting, officers found Cobb and another male hiding in a field several blocks from the restaurant. But both men were released before witnesses came forward to identify them, according to charging papers.
Police found a red hat at the scene of the Renton shooting that reportedly matched the red hat witnesses saw Cobb wearing at the Kent shooting.
Kent Police worked with gang units from the Seattle Police and the sheriff’s office as part of the investigation.
Prosecutors said Cobb has an extensive criminal history. Cobb’s juvenile convictions from 2000 to 2007 include custodial assault, third-degree possession of stolen property, false statement to a public servant, third-degree theft, fourth-degree assault, residential burglary, trafficking in stolen property, second-degree possession of stolen property and second-degree arson.
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