A 30-year-old Covington man faces two charges of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings of two homeless people last year in Kent, following a dispute in a gas station store line.
King County prosecutors filed the charges on Wednesday against Bradley T. Shaw. Shaw is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 28 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Shaw remains in custody at the county jail in Seattle with bail set at $4 million.
If found guilty as charged, Shaw could be sentenced from 50 to 63-plus years in prison, according to court documents. He is charged with killing Louisa Campos, 31, on Aug. 12, 2016; and Robert Dias, 48, on Aug. 13 2016, at a transient camp in the 22200 block of 88th Avenue South.
“The defendant poses a substantial likelihood of danger to the community,” wrote Scott O’Toole, senior deputy prosecutor, in the charging papers. “The defendant’s actions – the intentional shooting of the victims – in two separate incidents on two separate days – demonstrate the extreme danger he poses.”
Shaw reportedly told one witness that he was contemplating fleeing to Ireland because that country doesn’t allow extradition, and commented to the witness that he was Irish. Investigators examined Shaw’s cellphone records and learned he had conducted internet searches regarding different countries and extradition, including Ireland.
Kent Police arrested Shaw on Aug. 12, one year after the killing of Campos. A previously unknown witness called Kent Police earlier on Aug. 12 to report he had received a phone call from Shaw, who told him he had committed the killings, according to court documents. Shaw knew details about the crime scene that had not been released to the public.
Shaw described details of the shootings during a phone call he made to a former military buddy on Aug. 12. He said he had been in a gas station and cut in line. He said he was drunk and some of the people present objected to him cutting in line. One individual confronted Shaw. Afterwards, Shaw followed that person (reportedly Campos) to where she lived.
The next night Shaw went to the homeless camp where Campos and Shaw reportedly had a dispute. Campos got up in his face. Shaw then reportedly shot Campos three times in the head and body.
Shaw told his friend he went back the next night to the camp looking for witnesses, and saw a guy squatting there, holding a baseball bat. Shaw said he shot the man, reportedly Dias. Dias was shot in the head and the hand.
Campos and Dias were each shot with the same weapon, a .45-caliber handgun. It’s that gun that apparently caused Shaw to call his military friend. Shaw said that weapon he used in the shootings had been taken from him by Kent Police when he was arrested for DUI on Jan. 30. He had a court hearing on the DUI case coming up Aug. 17.
Shaw said he was worried police would use his DNA to link him to the crime scene of the shootings as well as match the bullets from his gun with the bullets recovered from the victims, Campos and Dias.
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