SEATAC, Wash. — Despite marijuana being legal in Washington state, Andrae Medina-Wong was killed after an October transaction.
For five weeks, the gunman was on the loose.
On Thursday, Aaron David Parypa, 39, of West Seattle was booked into the King County Detention Center on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
According to investigative documents, either Medina-Wong or his friend grabbed a jar full of marijuana while the two bought pot from Parypa near the intersection of South 160th Street and 1st Avenue South in Burien on Oct. 29. Praypa allegedly chased the two men in his vehicle and caught up with them at the intersection of South 154th Street and 24th Avenue in the city of SeaTac, where detectives say he then fired multiple shots. Medina-Wong died after being struck twice. His companion fled the scene and was later found by investigators.
At a bail hearing on Friday, Parypa waived his right to appear in court. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Sherer asked for bail to be set at $2 million "based on the obvious violence here, but also the risk that the public was put in by the flight, location and circumstances surrounding" the crime, he said.
Judge Anne Harper found probable cause not only for the murder of Medina-Wong, but for the attempted murder of the man with him. She set bail at $1 million instead.
Formal criminal charges are expected to be filed early next week.
KIRO
