Two men accused of shooting a rival gang member in front of the King County Youth Service Center in August have pleaded guilty to drive-by shooting charges, prosecutors announced this today.
Edouard Motley and Birk Isabel III—both affiliated with the Central District-based Deuce 8 gang—both pleaded guilty earlier today to shooting Monroe Ezell, a member of the South Seattle 74 Hoover Crips.
From a piece I wrote back in my Stranger days:
On August 14, Ezell was standing outside of the parking lot of the King County Youth Service Center with two younger Hoover members—Ezell says rival gang members have frequently targeted Hoovers as they leave court—when an SUV rolled down 12th Avenue. The car pulled a U-turn at the end of the block and stopped in front of Ezell. A man in the backseat opened his door, threw a red rag on the ground, signifying a likely connection between the shooter and a Blood-affiliated gang, and fired a volley of shots at the group, striking Ezell in the arm, stomach, and buttocks. No one else was injured. Ezell was taken to Harborview where, he says, members of the Valley Hood Piru showed up to finish the job. SPD spokesman Mark Jamieson confirms that a large group of young men showed up at the hospital following the shooting and that officers were dispatched to patrol the area. Jamieson was unaware of any arrests.
Ezell claimed he knew the shooter but refused to talk to police. Detectives eventually tracked down the shooters and prosecutors filed against Motley in October, and Birk in December.
Motley pleaded guilty to charges of first degree assault, unlawful weapons possession, and tampering with a witness. Prosecutors say with a firearms enhancement, Motley could be sentenced to 18 and 23 years in prison.
Isabel, who pleaded guilty to assault and drive-by shooting charges, faces three-and-a-half to four -and-a-half years in prison.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced next month.
When contacted this afternoon, EzellI told Seattlecrime.com seemed surprisingly conflicted about the potential tough sentences in the case. “I don’t want jailtime for nobody,” he said. “I rather see it dealt with differently.”
