FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — New developments in the investigation of the fatal shooting of 8-year-old Royal’lee Wallace in Federal Way: police say they are looking for a new suspect who could be connected to her death.
Investigators say 35-year-old Andre Marcelle Jimerson is suspected of being inside the Federal Way apartment and firing the fatal shot.
At first, police arrested the father and said he discharged a weapon in the home.
KIRO7 interviewed the family after the dad – Cherith Wallace – was released from jail with no charges filed. The family said Wallace was wrongfully arrested and detained, which led to his daughter dying while he was in custody.
Federal Way police released an update last week, saying in a statement, “Probable cause was developed to arrest the father on the afternoon of the shooting based on the initial statement he provided about being alone in his apartment with his child when she was shot.”
The statement continued, “Subsequently, detectives have discovered additional information that indicates two other individuals were in the apartment with the father when the shooting occurred. It was the father’s initial refusal to share this information with investigators and failure to identify the actual shooter that led to his arrest.”
But Wallace says he told police about other people inside the home right from the beginning.
“I just kept telling them over and over and over - they didn’t listen to me, they didn’t care,” he said.
Royal’lee Wallace died at Harborview Medical Center while her father was being held at the King County jail.