Teen who killed Tuba Man held on $100,000 bail in seperate case
Suspect, one of three from Tuba Man case, has not been charged for recent incident
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Billy Chambers, now 18, was one of two teens arrested after an alleged robbery incident early Tuesday in the Central District. He has not been charged in the case.
Chambers and a 17-year were hanging out with a 16-year-old girl in the Skyway area. Police were told there was an argument about an unrelated robbery at the teen's house about a month ago, and the girl believed the 17-year-old was responsible. That case was not reported to police.
Chambers allegedly told the girl to get out of the car in the 500 block of 23rd Avenue South. She demanded her BlackBerry back. The 17-year-old allegedly said he'd give it back to her for $10.
The teen "lifted her arm to slap (the 17-year-old) and she alleges that (he) slashed at her with a knife," Seattle police Officer Adam Losleben wrote in a probable-cause statement.
The knife allegedly cut her jacket, and when she was out of the car she again asked for her phone.
She told police the 17-year-old "produced a small black semiautomatic pistol and pointed (it) at her," Losleben wrote. "(The girl) said that the gun was small enough to be carried in your sock and referred to it as a "deuce deuce."
The car had been dropping off others in the Central District, and the 16-year-old called 911 from a friend's cell phone after the car left going south on 23rd Avenue South. The girl described Chambers and the 17-year-old and responding officers checked multiple addresses for both suspect, but found neither. Police then drove the girl to her home in downtown Seattle.
Seattle police alerted other agencies about the case, and Chambers and the 17-year-old were stopped by Renton police about 3:30 a.m. Seattle officers responded and took both teens back to the East Precinct.
Chambers "denied having robbed (the girl) and said that he did not have her cell phone and that they were no weapons in the vehicle," Losleben wrote. "(Chambers) said the vehicle was his and his grandmother had bought it for him, but that he hadn't transferred the title yet."
The 17-year-old -- who was in juvenile court Wednesday, but also hasn't been charged -- denied having been in Seattle or having any knowledge of the alleged robbery. He was ordered held in secured juvenile detention.
On the court form, Losleben did not object to Chambers' release, but King County District Court Judge Arthur Chapman ordered him held on $100,000 bail.
Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, said Wednesday afternoon their office had not been contacted by an attorney for Chambers. Boxes for Chambers phone numbers were left blank on the probable-cause document.
Teen cleared in recent bus incident
Chambers also was arrested Jan. 17 for investigation of unlawful bus conduct.
Deputies claimed that he boarded bus Route 41 at the Northgate Transit Center to go downtown and when the bus attempted to drive away, Chambers showed an expired transfer. The driver stated he had to pay the adult fare.
Deputies believed Chambers prevented the driver from moving the bus and underpaid the $2.25 fare.
Prosecutors reviewed the case and determined Chambers actually overpaid his fare by depositing $1. Metro youth fare extends to 18-year-olds.
He didn't hold up the bus for an exceptional amount of time, and the teen who was primarily responsible for the bus delay was another teen, officials said. Video showed he was calling to his younger brother. Charges were not filed against the teens.
However, it was his conduct after the arrest that some officials described as disturbing.
"While he was being searched by Deputy Hill and Deputy Nix, (the teen) bragged to them about being one of the juveniles who killed the Tuba Man," a King County Sheriff's Office incident report states. "He bragged how his lawyer, John Henry Brown (sic), got him off with only three months for stomping Tuba Man to death and how he would get him off for these charges too."
However, John Henry Browne was not the teen's attorney on the Tuba Man case, in which he received a sentence of 30 to 72 weeks and served all 72. His attorneys were public defenders Daewoo Kim and Hal Palmer, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.
Browne is known for defending high-profile suspects including Martin Pang, who was convicted in the 1995 warehouse fire that killed four Seattle firefighters; serial killer Ted Bundy; and, currently, the "Barefoot Bandit," Colton Harris-Moore.
Teen previously sentenced for felony
On July 24, 2010, Chambers and two others were arrested near Seneca Street and Sixth Avenue, after being identified by a victim who had reported being robbed at gunpoint. Police reported finding a cigarette lighter modeled after a Derringer pistol in his front sweatshirt pocket.
At the time, an officer described the teen as dangerous and "an active gang member," according to a probable-cause document. But the officer didn't elaborate on alleged gang ties, and deputies did not say this week if those gang ties were still suspected.
The teen pleaded guilty in January to stealing marijuana from the victim and was released the afternoon of Jan. 5 with credit for time spent in jail. The bus incident happened less than two weeks later.
The theft case was not considered a strike towards the state's three strike law, nor was the manslaughter conviction in McMichael's case because that was in juvenile court.
Chambers was not the first of Tuba Man's killers to be arrested after serving not more than 18 months for McMichael's death.
Last August, another of the three teens involved in the McMichael case was sentenced to 6 to 8 months in juvenile detention in an unrelated robbery case. Judge Mary Yu sentenced the teen to the high end of the standard sentencing range.
That teen faced a single charge related to a Jan. 22, 2010, incident at a Central District youth center. The robbery occurred shortly after the boy completed his sentence in McMichael's death.
All three of the suspects convicted in McMichael's case were 15 when he was killed.
Attack on Tuba Man
On Oct. 25, 2008, McMichael was near a bus stop in the 500 block of Mercer Street when a group of teens started beating him. The musician, who was known for playing outside local sports games and arts performances, was punched so hard that he fell and hit his head on the concrete.
Someone grabbed his wallet, and his 1979 Sonics NBA World Championship ring -- a gift to McMichael from a friend -- was taken off his left hand, police said. He was left bleeding in the street.
The 53-year-old was taken to Harborview Medical Center and released to recover at his Vermont Inn apartment. McMichael died of brain trauma on Nov. 3, 2008, as a result of the attack.
Chambers and the two others pleaded guilty in April 2009 to first-degree manslaughter.
Police and prosecutors asked on several occasions for witnesses to come forward, but found no one willing to testify at trial. The reluctance of roughly a dozen witnesses was "one of the most chilling parts of this entire story," King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said at the time.
In court, McMichael's brother, Kelsey, asked that the teens receive only the agreed-upon sentencing recommendations: 15 to 36 weeks for the teen convicted in the January 2010 robbery, and twice that length for the other two, including Chambers.
Kelsey McMichael has since said it seems Washington's sentencing laws are too lenient.
_________________________
...
Propping up an obsolete fishing industry at the expense of sound fisheries management is irresponsible. -Sg
Previous Topic
Index
