News

Woman arrested with murder suspect an 'upstanding child,' family says

SEATTLE — As authorities investigate whether a young woman arrested with the suspect in a Bellevue bar shooting tried to protect him from police, the woman's family told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News she's an "upstanding child" who is innocent.

Maleisha Saleem, 20, is being held on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance to her boyfriend, Ja'Mari Jones, 19.

The two were arrested Wednesday night by a Lakewood police officer who ran a license plate on the couple's car and found it had been stolen.

"Once they started to identify who was in the car and run them for warrants, they realized, one of the guys was wanted for murder," said Chris Lawler of the Lakewood Police Department.

Jones is charged with murdering DeShawn Milikin and injuring two others inside Bellevue's Munchbar last month.

Saleem is being held in the King County Jail.

"That's not Maleisha. She did the wrong thing at the wrong time," said Evelyn Henderson, Saleem's great aunt.

"She's never been in trouble. She just got with the wrong person," Henderson said of the Rainier Beach High School graduate.

According to the King County Prosecutor's Office, Saleem has a criminal record, and is now also being investigated for possibly protecting her fugitive boyfriend.

She is scheduled to appear before a judge on Friday.