A bill proposing tougher jail sentences for Washington state’s young gun offenders has a major backer in the Seattle area’s top prosecutor.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion on Wednesday said she’s supporting HB 1536, which calls for keeping juveniles repeatedly caught with guns behind bars for longer periods.
The current law says juveniles can’t be held in jail for more than 30 days until they receive their fifth gun conviction.
The bill introduced by Rep. David Hackney, a Democrat representing part of the Seattle suburb of Renton, proposes lowering the number of convictions to three so unruly young gun handlers can stay locked up longer.
“I currently have 10 juveniles who have been charged as adults, and all of them have had a previous unlawful possession of a firearm, and now they are charged as adults with either first-degree assault or murder,” Ms. Manion told KING-TV.
“I think juveniles are getting the message that it’s not a big deal to carry a firearm,” she added.
Ms. Manion’s support for the bill, which is being held up in committee, comes after her office on Wednesday charged 17-year-old Prince Mayamba with murder in connection with a deadly November shooting.
Prosecutors said Prince ambushed Khamal Blissitt, 21, by running up to the victim’s car at a red light in Kent and unloading six shots at him.
Authorities said Blissitt’s car drifted forward and crashed into a power line, where officers found him suffering from bullet wounds. The suspect ran away.
Court documents said Prince, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was on pretrial release for a prior gun charge when the homicide took place.
Prosecutors said Prince evaded arrest until he showed up at a hospital this past weekend with a gunshot wound to his leg. The hospital notified police about his outstanding warrant, and officers took him into custody after he was treated and released.
The push for tougher prison terms follows a warning last fall from former Gov. Jay Inslee, who said an “avalanche” of juveniles were being sent to state jail facilities.
Mr. Inslee, a Democrat, said the number of juveniles being sent to prison was overcrowding the compounds and provoking conflicts among the young inmates. He proposed reopening a vacant wing of an adult prison campus in Aberdeen to house the additional youth.
Many of the young convicts getting locked up are in for gun crimes.
Renton police said in September that juvenile gun crimes roughly doubled between 2022 to 2024, with the armed, underage offenders frequently holding up minimarts.
A statewide report from 2023, the most recent year data is available, said minors accounted for 22% of all robberies and 20% of all car thefts in Washington.
The same report said more than half of all juveniles arrested were ages 13 to 15.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.