A 19-year-old man has been charged with murder and assault after an argument over fireworks led to the fatal shooting of a Federal Way man on June 28.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Milton Arnold III, of Des Moines, with second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault.
In addition to the latest charges, Arnold also has a pending felony referral for a robbery in May 2020 in which two victims were robbed at gunpoint near a Federal Way park. The Mirror has requested more information on this case.
Arnold is being held in lieu of $2 million bail and his next court appearance is at 8:30 a.m. July 15 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
Just before midnight on June 28, officers responded to multiple 911 calls about a shooting in the area of 60th Avenue SW and Alki Avenue SW in West Seattle, according to Seattle police.
When first responders arrived, they found a 22-year-old man, identified as Tilorae Shepherd of Federal Way, laying partially in the street with several obvious gunshot wounds, according to police.
Shepherd died at the scene. Two other victims also had gunshot wounds to their legs and were transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy revealed Shepherd was struck by at least five rounds, including in the chest, which severed his aorta value and caused massive internal bleeding. His death has been ruled a homicide.
Prosecutors say Arnold’s alleged conduct showed extreme disregard for the safety of others as he shot three people in a crowded public area.
“Even as he fled with a friend that had also been shot in the fray, he [Arnold] continued to fire down the street,” the charging documents state.
According to the charging documents:
The 22-year-old male victim told police he and his girlfriend had been riding scooters at Alki when they ran into Shepherd, who is an old friend of theirs.
Shortly after, his girlfriend was hit in the back of the head with a firework. When the couple went to confront the people nearby, the group denied lighting the firework.
The couple and Shepherd approached two other men nearby to ask if they had seen who lit the firework. A confrontation ensued, and one of the men pulled out a black pistol and shot Shepherd from a few feet away, including shooting him in the eye, documents state.
The 22-year-old victim ran away when the shooter turned and shot at him twice. He was shot in the leg and turned back when he heard his girlfriend scream, then saw the two men running down the street.
The male victim also told police that Shepherd had a gun in his waistband and lifted up his shirt to display the gun in the original confrontation. When they approached the two men, Shepherd was not displaying the gun, he told police.
A witness reported seeing the shooter and an injured man get into a gray BMW and drive away.
Later, a gray BMW arrived at Harborview and one of the occupants matched the description of the shooter from earlier. Police searched the vehicle and found a bloody white T-shirt and three firearms inside the vehicle. Two of the semi-automatic handguns were in plain sight where the man, later identified as Arnold, was sitting.
At the scene, detectives found 9mm and .25 caliber shell casings. The firearms found in the car were 9mm handgun, a Glock 32 handgun and a Beretta 6.35 x 16mm handgun, equivalent to a .25 caliber round.
Family members and friends gathered at Alki Beach on July 1 to honor Shepherd’s life. A GoFundMe page has been created to help ease the family’s funeral expenses and has collected $4,891 of a $10,000 goal so far.
The GoFundMe says Shepherd is his mother’s only child and that Shepherd is a father to a young son and had another child on the way.
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