A 17-year-old Seattle gang member pleaded not guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder for shooting a 19-year-old man in January at a Kent apartment complex.
Anthony J. Smith allegedly shot Demonte Young, of Kent, once in the head and once in the stomach in a stairwell on Jan. 7 at the Somerset Apartments, in the 25200 block of 109th Court Southeast, on the East Hill. Smith is scheduled to return to King County Superior Court on April 20 in Kent when a trial date could be set or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case.
If found guilty as charged and with a five-year firearm enhancement, Smith could be sentenced anywhere from 25 to 31 years in prison, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Smith remains in the county jail in Kent with bail set at $1 million.
In recorded jail calls made since Smith’s arrest in January on an unrelated charge, Smith has made statements to known gang associates that he shot Young, a member of an opposing gang, according to charging papers. Smith has also laughed with known associates about the murder being a “score” for his gang.
Smith is a well-documented and admitted gang member, according to charging papers. Young was allegedly a member of a rival gang and visited the Kent apartment to meet with fellow gang members.
Kent Police responded on the night of Jan. 7 to numerous shots being fired and a man struck by bullets in a stairwell. Officers found five 9 mm shell casings and four .45-caliber shell casings near the apartment building. Detectives used witness accounts, ballistics comparisons and cellphone records to connect Smith to the shooting of Young.
When King County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Smith in SeaTac, he had a loaded 9 mm gun in his right front jacket pocket. The gun had 18 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Police later determined the gun had been stolen.
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