Two teens charged in murder of woman in Tukwila Costco parking lot
The murder of a woman in a Costco parking lot last January is still impacting other customers. The deadly attack and the crime spree that preceded it.
Two men have now been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 67-year-old Chinese woman, here visiting family.
She was helping her sister fight for her purse, when a would-be robber shot and killed her.
Only one of these teenagers is in the King County Jail. According to Homeland Security, his alleged accomplice, fled the country February 1st, just six days after the horrific crime in this parking lot.
As you can see, Costco is closed on this Memorial Day. But that hasn’t stopped customers from showing up who say they still feel the impact of that murder here.
On this holiday Monday, plenty of customers showed up at this Tukwila Costco, hoping the retail giant was open. And for some, it was news that a 67-year-old customer was shot and killed here last January.
“This is my first time, I just hear today,” said Belete Agezew. Yeah, first time you’ve heard about this. Yeah, but if this is true, we scared you know. We think this is a safe place, that’s why we come here.
“I mean, it’s Costco,” said Abdullah Dabbheh, Renton. “You think it’s safe. But obviously the incident went down. And it’s scary now.”
This customer says he changed the way his family shops here, now that he and his wife have a newborn.
“The other day, she was trying to go to Costco,” said Dabbheh. “Yeah, no. Not with all this that went down, so, I was like. We’ll just go together, might as well, might as well be safe.”
This was the scene in this parking lot four months ago.
Yuam Ming and her sister were wrapping up their shopping when, according to prosecutors, 19-year-old Salman Abdi tried stealing her sister’s purse. They fought back and he allegedly shot Ming in the chest, killing her almost instantly.
He and 18-year-old Ilyiss Abdi allegedly fled in the Porsche SUV they stole earlier that morning from a 76-year-old woman on West Queen Anne Hill. They were later captured on surveillance video trying to use her stolen credit cards.
Now the sudden, violent death of a woman visiting family from China is affecting people she will never know.
“The leaders, they really need to do something about this because this is not a small thing,” said Sisi Sete, Renton. “And Costco, I don’t know if I’ll ever be here again.”
Six days after the murder here, according to Homeland Security, Salman Haji left the country. Ilyiss Abdi remains in the King County Jail on $5-million bail.
Their arraignment is set for early June.
