Police are still searching for who killed Dwone Anderson-Young and Ahmed Said.
KING reports that detective have ruled out Matalepuna Malu as a suspect after reviewing surveillance video that shows the 26-year-old in an area casino at the time of the June 1st murders that left the two young men shot to death in the street at 29th Ave S and King.
The Seattle Times reports Malu remains in custody on a federal probation violation charge. The paper also says the other man police have been searching for in connection with the case remains a suspect. 30-year-old Ali Muhammed Brown’s fingerprints were found on Said’s car which was driven away from the murder scene following the shootings, the Times reports.
From SPD:
Ali Muhammed Brown is a black male, 5’9, 190 pounds, with brown eyes. Brown is 30-years-old and believed to be a transient, who has previously frequented the South King County area.
If you see Brown or know where police can find him, please call 911 or the SPD Homicide Tip Line at (206) 233-5000 immediately, and use extreme caution as detectives believe he is armed and dangerous.
City officials and Seattle Police representatives were on hand for a vigil to remember the victims and call for justice earlier this month in the wake of the murders. Police have not ruled out a possible hate crime motive in the slayings of the two young, gay men who had been out partying on Capitol Hill the night of their deaths.
Mea culpa. Those of us who felt strongly that Malu was guilty did so because of the report that his brother received a phone call in which Malu said he had just shot someone in the face. Apparently that was a false report. One has to wonder if 911 really received such a call. It should have been easy enough for reporters to confirm this one way or the other, and to not include it in the initial news articles if no such call occurred.
The Times and KIRO first reported that detail based on a police report on the incident. I don’t recall a 911 call being the source either. The same report — as we noted and I believe ST and KIRO noted — said Malu told police the allegation was not true.
From the Seattle Times:
[…] 29th/King double homicide update: Police are at square one in the investigation as the man originally named as a suspect in the June 1st slaying has been cleared in the crime. […]