A memorial for Royale Lexing after the teen was gunned down in an E Union shootout last May (Image: CHS)

In the Central District in May 2019, the community around 21st and Union mourned and worked to do more to stop street violence in the area after 19-year-old Royale Lexing was gunned down in a chaotic daytime shootout.

The investigation around the case remains unresolved a year later.

A Seattle Police Department spokesperson told CHS this week he was unable to provide updates in this week due to the “active and ongoing investigation.”

The shooting was part of a deadly year across Capitol Hill and the Central District including a terrible murder amid the nightlife crowds around Cal Anderson in July as 25-year-old Rayshauna Webber was stabbed and killed in a dispute over an unwanted offer of a light for a cigarette. Earlier in January, 24-year-old Jafar Mack was shot and killed in the parking lot above Pike and Broadway. In March, 21-year-old Hakeem Salahud-din was shot and killed while trying to break up a fight in Cal Anderson.

Lexing, a 2017 graduate of Garfield High School, was found dead by police outside Swedish Cherry Hill where he was rushed by a private vehicle after multiple shooters exchanged fire in a shootout along E Union Friday, May 10th just after 3 PM.

The violent death brought renewed SPD emphasis in the area and an effort from neighbors and city leaders to try to do more to address the street violence beyond policing using resources including environmental design to try to change the physical space where the shooting took place.

In the meantime, there have been no announced arrests in the Lexing case.

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