Young men sentenced after 2020 murder for hire plot

SEATTLE — Two young men were sentenced Friday for their role in a murder-for-hire plot that happened in Bellevue in 2020.

Prosecutors allege Shaerin Kelley hired Joseph Good, to kill her ex-husband, Baron Li. Good, a teenager at the time, then recruited his friend, Quincy Mendez to drive the getaway car. The teens drove from Mount Vernon to Li’s Bellevue apartment.

Li was shot nine times but survived. In July, Good plead guilty to an attempted murder charge, as well as a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. On Friday, a judge sentenced him to 152.25 months in prison.

Quincy was also sentenced on Friday. He pleaded guilty to a first-degree assault charge. The judge sentenced him to 106 months in juvenile detention. Li says he’s gone through 15 months of rehabilitation. He says despite the injuries and attempts on his life, he forgives the men for their actions.

“He made a bad decision, a very bad decision, but I don’t want that to define his life,” says Li. “We all make bad decisions, right? If we were all defined by a single mistake in our life then what does the future hold for us.”

Mendez wrote a letter to Li, that was read before his sentencing. In it, he writes, ‘I thank God every day for saving your life. I would not have been able to live with that guilt.’ He also apologized for his actions.

In the courtroom, Li told him he was forgiven.

“I felt his remorse. It made it easier to forgive. But I’ve already forgiven the boys long before this happened anyway. I have to make peace with myself as well,” says Li.

Li told us that the judge’s sentencing brought him a sense of closure. However, he says his forgiveness is not extended to his ex-wife.

“I said it in an interview 3 years ago. I hope she rots in jail. And that hasn’t changed,” said Li.

She’s facing an attempted murder charge.

©2023 Cox Media Group