King County prosecutors have charged three Auburn residents in a 2022 murder of a Kent man at the Westfield Southcenter Mall in Tukwila.
Cristopher Ruvalcaba, 20, Joe Aguilera, 18, and Kevin Diaz-Bautista, 16, all face a felony charge of second-degree murder for the death of 30-year-old Chris Wesolowicz on Nov. 18, 2022.
The King County Superior Court will try 16-year-old, Diaz-Bautista, as an adult as a result of the severity of the charge.
Ruvalcaba and Aguilera both face an additional felony charge of theft of a motor vehicle.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges against the three on May 19.
Tukwila Police officers responded on Nov. 18, 2022, at approximately 6:39 p.m. to reports of a shooting in a parking garage.
According to court documents, surveillance video shows the three subjects parking a previously reported stolen vehicle in a parking garage at the Southcenter Mall next to the vehicle of Chris and Mary Wesolowicz.
Two subjects exit the stolen vehicle and reportedly one smashes the rear driver’s side window of the Wesolowicz’s vehicle as the second stands lookout, according to court documents. The third subject sits in the driver’s seat of the stolen vehicle appearing to hold a firearm.
Video shows Chris and Mary Wesolowicz walking back to the vehicle after having dinner and unlocking the vehicle with a key fob, resulting in the flashing of the lights on the vehicle. The two subjects outside jump back into the stolen vehicle and Chris jumps and slams himself on the stationary suspect vehicle’s windshield, hitting his back on the glass.
Chris lands back on the ground and video reportedly shows a subject in the front passenger seat raising his right hand prior to four gunshots firing through the front windshield, according to court documents. Additional gunshots fire through and shatter the front driver’s window and the stolen vehicle flees the scene.
Chris and Mary Wesolowicz run and both fall to the ground.
According to charging documents, Ruvalcaba and Aguilera allegedly fired at least eight rounds, with four striking Chris Wesolowicz and one striking Mary Wesolowicz in the hand.
Upon arrival at the scene, officers located Chris Wesolowicz with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a news release from the Tukwila Police Department. Wesolowicz died as a result of his wounds at the scene despite efforts from first responders to save his life.
The suspects fled the scene in a vehicle immediately following the shooting, according to the Tukwila Police Department.
In the months following the incident, the investigation of Tukwila detectives established probable cause for the arrest of Ruvalcaba, Aguilera and Diaz-Bautista for murder.
Investigation identified the three suspects as members of the Pacific North Line Mob, a gang.
On May 17, multiple South King County and Pierce County agencies coordinated to serve arrest warrants at three locations in Auburn.
Law enforcement arrested Diaz-Bautista in the 2300 block of O Street Northeast, and Ruvalcaba in the 31200 block of Lea Hill Road and Aguilera in a traffic stop — all without incident.
Police booked Ruvalcaba and Aguilera into the King County jail and Diaz-Bautista into the King County Clark Children and Family Justice, according to the news release.
Ruvalcaba provided a statement to Tukwila police admitting he and Aguilera and Diaz-Bautista attempted to steal another vehicle in the parking garage at Southcenter Mall, according to an affidavit of probable cause. He said to police he remembered Chris Wesolowicz slamming on the windshield prior to both him and Aguilera firing shots.
According to charging documents, ballistics testing identified the two firearms Aguilera and Ruvalcaba reportedly used in Wesolowicz’s shooting as having been used in an additional five separate shootings.
“The arrest of Kevin Diaz-Bautista, Cristopher Ruvalcaba and Joe Aguilera has put a stop to a
shooting spree throughout South King County,” stated Christopher Anderson, senior deputy prosecuting attorney, in charging documents. “Wherever these defendant’s go there are shots fired.”
Law enforcement recovered four more firearms from Ruvalcaba’s address and Diaz-Bautista.
The King County Superior Court scheduled the arraignments for the three subjects for the morning of June 1. The subjects remain in custody, with the two older men in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle. Bail is at $2 million each for Ruvalcaba and Aguilera. Diaz-Bautista is in the county’s Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle.
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