SEATTLE — The man accused of shooting and killing a woman and her unborn child in Belltown in June of 2023 has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Cordell Goosby will be sent to a psychiatric hospital like Western State, potentially for the rest of his life.
He is accused of walking up to a car near Fourth and Lenora and opening fire, killing a pregnant woman and her unborn child and injuring her husband in what investigators described as a random attack.
Goosby was arrested shortly after the shooting. Court proceedings after the arrest included discussion over his psych evals, which featured a history of hard drug use. Lawyers argued over whether he was competent to stand trial.
“Mr. Goosby previously did have competency issues and went through competency restoration,” Gabrielle Charlton, chair of the Felony Competency and Forensic Mental Health Unit at the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said in a prerecorded statement.
Goosby was eventually found competent to stand trial, but the insanity plea is different; it deals with his mental state at the time of the shooting. The insanity was confirmed by experts hire by both the defense and prosecution.
“Both came to the same conclusion: that he was insane at the time of this crime,” Charlton said.
Goosby’s victims were Eina Kwon, a business owner who was seven months pregnant and her husband, Sung Kwon. Eina died from her injuries, as did their unborn child. Sung was shot in the arm and survived.
As part of the plea, Goosby was required to acknowledge he committed the crime.
“These cases are tragic all around,” Charlton said. “Obviously, they involve a horrific incident and someone who is severely mentally ill.”
Goosby will not go into the care of DSHS. At some point in the future, it may decide to release him, but the King County court system and prosecutors will have the chance to object first.