Dondre Jack Lee Butler, 20, allegedly shot his mother’s boyfriend eight to 1o times before fleeing their Kent house and several days later turning himself in to police.
King County prosecutors charged Butler with second-degree murder in the death of Carlos Middleton, 45. Butler is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 17 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He remains in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle with bail set at $1 million.
Butler reportedly shot Middleton Oct. 29 at a house they lived in at 14310 SE 282nd St. Butler’s mother, the girlfriend of Middleton, also lived at the home.
“According to the victim’s friends, (Middleton) had safety concerns about the defendant and had alerted his friends that the defendant had pulled a gun on him before,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney William Doyle in charging documents. “(Middleton) told a friend that if anything happened to him, ‘her (the defendant’s mother) and her son did it.’”
In addition to the eight to 10 shots on his torso and leg that killed Middleton, he suffered blunt force trauma injuries to his face and forehead as well as a cut lip, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Butler has no known criminal conviction history. He had a fourth-degree assault as a juvenile, a diversion referral in Kent from an incident in July 2020 when he allegedly kicked his mother’s then-boyfriend (not Middleton) down a flight of stairs, according to court documents.
Officers responded at about 10:12 p.m. Oct. 29 to 911 calls about a shooting at the East Hill home, according to court documents. One 911 caller was the son’s mother who said her boyfriend had been shot. The other was a neighbor who reported hearing about six gunshots from the residence and a vehicle fleeing.
The mother told police that she and Middleton had been drinking alone at the residence. She said she was in bed when Middleton decided to leave the bedroom and took a set of keys. She said she followed Middleton out of the house and was able to grab the keys from his hand, according to court documents.
The woman said she then ran back to the house and could hear Middleton chasing her. She said once she opened the door of the house, Middleton pushed her from behind and she fell to the floor. She said immediately afterwards her son shot Middleton multiple times and then fled the residence.
The mother never said that Middleton was armed or appeared to have been armed, according to police. She also never said that Middleton tried to attack her on the floor or had been standing over her on the floor.
She claimed not to know where her son was and would not provide information as to the vehicle he was driving or his phone number.
Butler turned himself in Nov. 1 at the Kent Police Station. He brought attorney James Curtis, of The Curtis Firm in Tukwila, with him. Curtis organized the man’s surrender with a detective. Detectives had been looking for Butler but had not tracked him down. Butler did not talk to detectives.
Police executed a search warrant at the home and recovered a firearm in one of the bedrooms that reportedly belonged to Butler. Detectives also found Butler’s social security card in the room. They found multiple fired cartridge cases in the home.
A friend of Middleton’s told detectives that Middleton told him about six months ago that Butler had pulled a gun on Middleton, according charging documents. Another friend told detectives that a friend of Butler’s pulled a gun on Middleton at a party thrown by a friend of Butler’s mother.
Middleton apparently left the party terrified and later told his friend that if anything happens to him, to look at his girlfriend and her son.
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