Demartrae L. Kime, 25, has been charged with murder in connection with the April 16 shooting death of 1-year-old Malijha Grant in Kent.
Kime has also been charged with two counts of assault in the first degree because Malijha’s parents were also targeted in the shooting.
According to investigators, Kime, who is known by his street names YM (Young Marty) or Marty, is a self-proclaimed member of the Seattle area criminal street gang Low Profile.
An investigation revealed that Kime targeted the victim’s family for the drive by shooting because he believed the victim’s father was associated with an opposing street gang, Deuce 8, which Kime blamed for the murder of his friend, and fellow gang member, John Williams, according to a press release from the Kent Police Department.
Malijah was shot in the head while riding in a carseat in the backseat of her parents car, with her mother driving and her father in the front passenger seat at the intersection of Lake Fenwick Road and Reith Road near the Lake Fenwick Estates apartments in Kent. She died two days later. Grant lived in Kent with her parents.
The charges against Kime are the result of an eight-month investigation and collaboration of local, state, and federal law enforcement entities, including the Kent Police Department, Seattle Police Department, King County Sheriff’s Office, the ATF, FBI, the King County Prosecutor’s Office as well as the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Criminal Intelligence Unit.
According to investigators, Kime has a violent history stemming back to 2007, which includes multiple assault and robbery convictions. Kime is currently in federal custody on unrelated charges for unlawfully possessing a firearm. In addition, Kime has been indicted in Oregon for robbery in the first degree.
“Even with the insurmountable barriers that investigators had to overcome during this investigation, they worked meticulously with nonstop persistence with the ultimate goal of obtaining justice for baby Malijha and her family,” Kent Police dective Melanie Robinson said in a press release.
Investigators do not believe that Kime acted alone.
Anyone with any additional information is asked to call 911, or the Kent Police Department tip line at 253-856-5808. Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound is offering a cash reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and charges of the suspects involved. Call the hotline anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit the information online at crimestoppers.com.
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