Woman charged with attempted murder for shooting Kent man | Update

A 24-year-old Tacoma woman has been charged with first-degree attempted murder after she allegedly shot a Kent man in the face on Tuesday just outside of a Panther Lake Starbucks.

A 24-year-old Tacoma woman has been charged with first-degree attempted murder after she allegedly shot a Kent man in the face on Tuesday just outside of a Panther Lake Starbucks.

King County prosecutors filed the charge on Friday against Fermina Bartolini Bertos. She remained in custody Friday in the county jail in Seattle with bail set at $1 million. She is scheduled to be arraigned on July 29 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Bertos did not speak to detectives about the shooting of Dennis E. Madrigal, 23, at about 12:21 p.m. on July 15 at the Starbucks in the 10700 block of Southeast 208th Street. She reportedly told her mother and brother that Madrigal had raped her so she shot him, according to charging papers.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Madrigal, during an interview with detectives at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said Bertos did nothing to indicate she didn’t want to participate in a sexual encounter. He said he met the woman about three months ago at a party and they started seeing each other recently.

The couple went to a fireworks show on July 4. They went to Seattle on July 14 where they drank alcohol at multiple locations before returning to Madrigal’s Kent residence where they had sex.

The Kent man said he drove Bertos home to Tacoma at about 5 a.m. on July 15. Bertos later contacted him by text message and wanted to meet. He agreed and she drove to his home, according to court documents.

Bertos picked him up, they got gas and went to Starbucks. Madrigal said he opened the door to Starbucks, heard a loud noise, felt his head and fell to the ground.

The woman reportedly shot him once in the face with a .45-caliber handgun she pulled from her purse. She then fled the scene and a few hours later turned herself in to Tacoma Police. Kent detectives reviewed video surveillance footage from a nearby business that captured the shooting. The video showed Madrigal and Bertos walking to the Starbucks when the woman pulled out a gun from her purse and shot the man.

Madrigal had trouble speaking when police tried to talk to him right after the shooting, but he wrote down Bertos’ name as the woman who shot him.

Prosecutor Mari K. Isaacson told the court that Bertos remains a threat to commit a violent offense and asked that bail remain at $1 million.

“The defendant shot the victim in the head at point blank range in a public place in broad daylight,” Isaacson said in court documents. “Surveillance video shows the victim and the defendant walking down the sidewalk prior to the shooting. The video does not show an argument or physical confrontation of any kind before the defendant fired.”

Bertos has worked as a guest services employee at a Tacoma hotel for about two years. The hotel manager told police that Bertos showed up at work on July 15 and left around 11:16 a.m. She later called the manager and told him she could not work at the hotel any longer and that she needed to go to the police.

Detectives searched Bertos’ vehicle and found a .45-caliber handgun on the front passenger seat. Records show Bertos bought the gun in May 2013 and had a concealed pistol license issued in 2012.

View Larger Map


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

File Photo
Kent City Council approves Stay Out of Drug Areas zone

Nine organizations signed letter opposing new ordinance as ‘not an effective option’

t
Slower is safer: Steps to increase traffic safety in South King County

11-mile corridor has a high number of collisions, many of them fatal.

t
Family starts GoFundMe page for Kent man killed in crash

Jose Ortiz, 55, died in March 28 collision; wife suffered serious injuries; police arrest driver of 2nd vehicle

Courtesy Photo, City of Kent Parks
Kent city leaders want bigger piece of county Parks Levy

Measure could go to voters in August; King County Council to consider levy this month

King County Correctional Facility in Seattle. COURTESY PHOTO, King County
Man, 22, gets 20-year prison sentence for 2022 Kent killing

Drive-by shooting outside bar on Central Avenue took the life of 29-year-old Kent man

File Photo
Kent Police arrest man, 22, for arson, assaults against girlfriend

Allegedly set apartment on fire and repeatedly beat 19-year-old woman

t
Kent man, 56, dies in two-vehicle crash March 28 in Kent

Police arrest woman for investigation of vehicular homicide; collision at 94th Ave. S./S. 240th St.

File Photo, Kent Reporter
6-year-old boy drowns in pond on Kent’s East Hill

Child reportedly had autism and was drawn to the water on March 25, according to police

Valley Medical Center in Renton. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Layoffs at Valley Medical Center stem from loss of funding

101 nonunion employees were fired March 25 from Renton hospital that also serves Kent.

t
FBI honors teen girls who helped stop abduction in Kent

They rescued 6-year-old girl from man in July 2024 in parking lot of apartment complex

t
Kent Police Blotter: March 11-23

Incidents include naked female, robbery with a syringe, assault, harassment

Kent Mayor Dana Ralph, fourth from left, stands with the Kent City Council, from left to right, John Boyd, Toni Troutner, Zandria Michaud, Satwinder Kaur, Brenda Fincher, Marli Larimer and Bill Boyce. COURTESY PHOTO, City of Kent
Cost-of-living pay hikes approved for Kent mayor, City Council

A 3.6% increase boosts mayor’s annual salary to $219,720; part-time council members to earn $37,296 per year