An arraignment hearing for a 24-year-old Seattle-area gang member accused of killing a 1-year-old girl in an April drive-by shooting in Kent has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 25.
King County prosecutors filed a second-degree murder charge last month against Demartrae “Marty” L. Kime for the death of Malijah Grant.
Arraignment was set for Monday, but Kime is in federal custody on an unrelated unlawful possession of a firearm charge and was unable to appear in court at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. An attorney for Kime told the court that sentencing in the federal case is set for Jan. 15 and Kime should be able to be transported to Kent for arraignment later this month.
Grant was shot once in the head while riding home from the grocery store on April 16 in a car seat in the backseat of her parents’ car, with her mother driving and her father in the front passenger seat. The baby, who lived in Kent with her parents, died two days after the shooting.
Kime also faces two charges of first-degree assault for allegedly firing shots at Grant’s parents, who were not injured.
Kime targeted the vehicle because he believed the victim’s father to be associated with a rival street gang known as Deuce 8, charging papers said. Kime, also known as YM (Young Marty) or Marty, is a self-proclaimed member of the Low Profile gang. He has the gang name tattooed across his chest. He blamed the Deuce 8 gang for the Seattle murder last March of John Williams, his friend and fellow gang member, according to charging papers.
If convicted as charged for the baby’s murder, Kime could face a sentence range of 41-54 years in prison, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
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