Inquest explores 2019 fatal police shooting in Federal Way

The inquest into the death of Malik Williams, who died in a confrontation with Federal Way police in 2019, began on July 8.

Although not a trial, multiple officers who were involved in the incident testified in front of a jury, recounting what happened when 23-year-old Williams was shot to death by police.

Williams died in the parking lot of the South Ridge House Apartment Complex in Federal Way on Dec. 30, 2019. On that day, while Williams sat in the passenger seat of a vehicle, seven police officers shot at Williams after he allegedly reached for a firearm after officers told him to put down his gun multiple times.

All the officers involved on the scene were part of the Federal Way Police Department: Charles Hinkle, Cody Robertson, Richard Graham, RB Blackshear, Austin Rogers, Nicholas Lara, and Alex Clark.

On day one of the inquest, according to testimony from FWPD Officer Hinkle, Williams drank beer and smoked a cigarette with a gun on his lap while Hinkle told him to put his hands on the dashboard. Following this, Hinkle said Williams reached for his firearm, and he subsequently shot at Williams.

Inquest administrator Marcine Anderson said that Williams received three wounds, with only one to his head being lethal, and Officer Hinckle and Officer Lara suffered non-lethal bullet wounds. Additionally, Anderson said that the Washington State Patrol crime lab analyzed evidence obtained by investigators and concluded that the firearm found next to Williams in the vehicle he was in was fired multiple times. It was also concluded that the bullet recovered from Williams’s head was fired from the firearm belonging to Federal Way Police Officer Austin Rogers.

Inquest program attorney Katie Nichols asked Rogers why he decided to discharge his firearm, to which he responded that he believed that the immediate threat of officers being shot after the firearm was pointed at them had a high likelihood of causing either one or multiple police officers to be killed. Nichols asked Rogers why he stopped discharging his firearm, to which he responded that he stopped once he no longer saw the firearm in Williams’s hand and when he lost view of Williams below the vehicle’s dashboard. Nichols then asked Rogers to explain what he saw before and after shots were fired at Williams.

“As the video shows, the shooting lasted mere seconds,” Rogers said. “I remember shooting once I saw the firearm, and then Mr. Williams was no longer visible from what I could see. At that point, I stopped firing.”

What is an inquest?

In King County, an inquest is held any time law enforcement may have contributed to someone’s death. Anderson said her role was to preside over the inquest and ensure full, fair and transparent proceedings.

Anderson started the inquest by explaining that the jurors were members of a coroner panel in this inquest hearing, but in other communities, a coroner or a medical examiner might conduct these investigations.

Anderson said in King County, an inquest investigation occurs in a public hearing where the jury listens to evidence about what happened, then answers questions called interrogatories about the facts and circumstances related to the person’s death. They then will deliberate. Anderson said interrogatory questions will include who died, how he died, whether any law enforcement officer used force against Williams, and if so, whether the use of force caused Williams’s death.

Additionally, the questions will ask what law enforcement policies and trainings applied to the officers, and whether the actions of the officers were in compliance with the police department policies and training. The inquest also seeks to determine whether the actions of the officers were justifiable or excusable as defined by Washington law at the time of this incident.

She stressed that an inquest is not a trial, and there are no opening or closing statements. She said the purpose of the inquest is not to determine civil or criminal liability. King County Department of Executive Services Communications Manager Cameron Satterfield said the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is different from the prosecutor’s office, and to date, the outcome of an inquest has not had any bearing on the office’s decision to prosecute or not prosecute.

How officers got involved

Officers approached Williams because someone living at the apartment complex called after he heard yelling from a vehicle in the parking lot, thinking there might be a domestic violence situation happening. In that vehicle was Williams and his friend.

The reporting party testified on day one of the inquest and said that after he heard yelling from a vehicle in the parking lot, he called 911. In that vehicle was Williams and his friend, whom the reporting party said he heard arguing. The reporting party said he thought Williams and the person in the driver seat were potentially fighting because the vehicle had rocked back and forth.

The reporting party said that despite being in the vicinity of Williams’s death, he did not see what happened. However, the reporting party did hear officers tell Williams to put his beer down and something about a cigarette, and he heard officers tell Williams to put his gun down twice.

According to Satterfield, deliberation was set to begin on July 18, and the end date of the inquest is undetermined