Kent man faces murder charge in downtown shooting death

A Kent man, 37, allegedly chased, shot and killed a 42-year-old Kent man last week near downtown because he claimed the man disrespected his mother. A man who knew both men said it might have been a dispute about a drug debt.

King County prosecutors charged Matthew Charles Chancellor with second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm on Tuesday in connection with the Sept. 10 shooting death of James C. Knowlton as he sat in his car along East Saar Street just west of Central Avenue South. Knowlton died at the scene. Knowlton died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Chancellor, who has a felony conviction for burglary, remained in the county jail in Seattle with bail set at $500,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 28 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Chancellor claims the gun went off accidentally.

Chancellor told detectives that he had issues with Knowlton. Chancellor claims Knowlton disrespected Chancellor’s mother who works at a local store, according to charging papers. He did not go into details about how Knowlton supposedly disrespected his mother. He said he had been trying to talk to Knowlton about the matter but Knowlton runs away from him every time.

On the morning of Sept. 10, Chancellor, who drives a white box truck with red flowers painted on it, said he saw Knowlton standing out front of a friend’s house in the 100 block of East Willis Street and yelled at him as he pulled up in his truck. Knowlton took off running, so Chancellor parked the truck, retrieved a 9 mm pistol from under the driver’s seat, placed the gun in his waistband and chased Knowlton down a nearby alley.

As Chancellor rounded a corner, he saw Knowlton backing his car out of it where it was parked. Chancellor said he drew his gun in an effort to get Knowlton to stop so they could talk and that the gun accidentally went off. He said he heard Knowlton make a moaning sound, so he ran back to his friend’s house, woke up the friend, told him Knowlton had been hurt and took him to the location of the car.

Chancellor then returned to his box truck and drove to the First Presbyterian Church parking lot at the intersection of 94th Avenue South and South 248th Street. He reportedly was known to park sometimes at the church and a friend told police that he might have driven there.

The friend also said the dispute between Chancellor and Knowlton might have had to do with $50 Knowlton owed Chancellor, a debt possibly related to drugs.

Police surrounded the truck at the church parking lot the night of Sept. 10. Officers ordered Chancellor from the truck. He exited the truck but wasn’t cooperative, according to charging papers. He told police to “just shoot him.” After further resisting arrest, officers took him into custody. Detectives interviewed Chancellor at a hospital because of minor injuries he suffered during the arrest.

Police served a search warrant on the box truck and found a 9 mm handgun in a bag in the back of the truck along with a magazine with nine rounds, a box of 49 bullets and a holster.

Outside of the friend’s house along East Willis Street, detectives found a 9 mm spent shell casing in the gravel near where Chancellor had parked his truck. A video surveillance camera from a neighbor’s house recorded a white box truck with red flowers on it parking in front of the home at about 10 a.m. on Sept. 10. The video also showed a man exit the truck and appear to reach under the driver’s seat, remove an item and place that item into his waistband. He then ran across East Willis Street and out of the camera’s view.

The 911 call on Sept. 10 came in at about 10:16 a.m. with the report of an unconscious man in a car, said Kent Police spokesman Jarod Kasner. Witnesses started to perform CPR on Knowlton in the street. Officers and paramedics arrived a short time later and continued CPR before Knowlton was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers then saw that Knowlton had a single gunshot wound in the upper body, Kasner said.

Chancellor has a criminal record including felony convictions for second-degree burglary in 1999 in Pierce County, first-degree burglary in 2002 in Oregon and numerous misdemeanor convictions including drug charges in 2005 and 2007, unlawful possession of a firearm in 2008, violation of a no-contact order three times in 2010, fourth-degree assault in 2009 and 2010, displaying a weapon in 2011, possession of a dangerous weapon in 2010 and possessing a weapon on school grounds in 2015.