King County prosecutors have charged a 59-year-old Renton man in the stabbing death of a 38-year-old man in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood.
Prosecutors say James D. McClinton Jr., 59, hunted down and killed Devon Guion on Sept. 22 at a residential facility in the 100 block of Cedar Street in Seattle.
Prosecutors filed a felony charge of first-degree murder on Sept. 28 in King County Superior Court against McClinton, stating McClinton killed Guion with premeditated intent.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, surveillance footage of the incident showed a physical altercation between McClinton and Guion prior to the stabbing with the two men pushing and shoving each other in front of McClinton’s apartment. After the altercation, Guion headed for the elevators as McClinton retrieved a knife from his apartment.
Taking the adjacent elevator to the first floor, McClinton searched for Guion outside the front of the building prior to walking back inside. At the elevator lobby area, one of the elevators opened. McClinton looked into the elevator to find Guion alone. McClinton “immediately” lunged into the elevator and attacked Guion with the knife, according to documents.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office’s autopsy of Guion, conducted on Sept. 25, showed a deep slashing injury to the right arm that hit bone, and a stabbing injury to the upper torso that hit Guion’s aorta, resulting in significant bleeding into the left chest cavity. The medical examiner determined the stab wound served as the cause of Guion’s death.
McClinton stepped around Guion and he lay face down bleeding on the floor and fled the scene on foot, according to prosecutorial documents.
Seattle police were dispatched to the building at approximately 5:10 p.m. after receiving a call from a staff member of the facility.
Officers arrived and located Guion in the elevator lobby area on the first floor of the building. First responders pronounced Guion deceased in the ambulance at the scene, according to the affidavit.
Police arrested McClinton four days after the stabbing on Sept. 26 in the 500 block of Fifth Avenue in Seattle, according to arrest documents.
McClinton holds a criminal history dating back to 1983, with convictions including robbery in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, theft in the first degree, and more.
McClinton remains in jail on $3 million bail, according to an email from Casey McNerthney, director of communications for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The court scheduled McClinton’s arraignment for Oct. 11.
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