Kent man faces first-degree murder charges in shooting death of Renton teen

Alajawan Brown’s homicide wasn’t random.

He was targeted – by mistake, said King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg Thursday in announcing the filing of first-degree murder charges against Curtis John Walker, 35, of Kent.

Alajawan, 12, died the evening of April 29 at the 7-Eleven on Martin Luther King Jr. Way after he was shot in the back just minutes after a violent argument involving two groups of people at the nearby Cedar Village Apartments on South 129th Street.

Until Thursday, investigators with the King County Sheriff’s Office had said that Alajawan was hit by a stray bullet.

But Satterberg said Walker shot Alajawan, who was large for his age, because he thought he was involved in the shootout at the apartment complex in which a friend of Walker’s also was shot.

Walker has a long criminal record and was under the supervision of the Washington state Department of Corrections at the time of the shooting.

“This child was shot by a violent felon,” said Satterberg. Later, he said, “This is a case that screams out for justice.”

Walker is being held in the King County Jail in downtown Seattle on $5 million bail. His arraignment is July 1.

Alajawan was walking home from the bus stop on Martin Luther King Jr. Way after buying football cleats at WalMart in downtown Renton.

Sheriff Sue Rahr, whose detectives investigated the shooting and relied heavily on forensic work by the Washington state Crime Lab, said Alajawan was a good kid who just wanted to play football.

“Alajawan is every kid,” she said.

Walker was linked to the shooting after three guns were found in a field in southwest Renton. His DNA was found on the gun and bullets; because of his felony record, his DNA was already in a national database.