A Kent man received a prison sentence of 25 years for shooting and injuring a man last July at an East Hill apartment complex.
Wendall Oliver Adams, Jr., 27, was convicted during a bench trial of first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Adams was sentenced in March.
According to charging papers, Adams shot at an unarmed man multiple times July 8 in broad daylight in an unprovoked attack at the Summerwalk Apartments in the 22400 block of Benson Road.
Adams had borrowed a car belonging to the mother of his former girlfriend. The mother called her son to go with her to the apartment complex where Adams lived to get the car back.
The man went to the apartment of Adams and told him at the door that his mother wanted to talk to him. Adams said he would be out in a second.
When Adams came out of the apartment, he was holding a black handgun and pointed the gun at the son of the woman. He then fired three or four times at the man, who fell to the ground. Adams then walked over to the man, stood above him and fired about three more shots at him before he fled on foot.
Heroic efforts by residents of the apartment complex, first responders and three surgeons at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle saved the victim’s life, according to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
After fleeing the scene, Adams turned himself in eight days later at the county jail at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent after he had seen himself on Q13 Fox’s Washington Most Wanted List, according to David Rose of Q13 and King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Cindi West.
Adams criminal history includes convictions for first-degree robbery in 2006; second-degree robbery in 2000 as a juvenile; first-degree escape in 2004; hit and run in 2003; attempting to elude a pursuing police officer in 2003; first-degree theft in 2002; hinder law enforcement in 2002; unlawful possession of a firearm in 2001; dangerous weapons in 2001; and fourth-degree assault in 1999.
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