A recap of 2025 murders in Federal Way
Published 1:22 pm Friday, January 9, 2026
Federal Way saw a total of nine murders in 2025, with a higher number of them being domestic violence-related than usual, according to the police department.
FWPD Cmdr. Kyle Buchanan said that domestic violence incidents are particularly challenging to prevent, despite the department’s best efforts to arrest offenders and connect victims with support.
“Each homicide represents a profound loss, and our detectives approach these cases with a strong sense of responsibility to the victims and their families,” Buchanan said. “Clearing five cases reflects the dedication and persistence of our investigative team, and we will continue to actively pursue leads in the remaining cases with the same level of commitment.”
Regarding cases that are not solved yet, Buchanan said that he cannot get into the specifics. He said some of the challenges the department faces when investigating homicides include a lack of witness cooperation or a lack of witnesses, long wait times for forensic evidence, and a large number of warrants that are often required to obtain forensic evidence.
Despite there being nine murders in 2025, there was a May 3 fatal shooting that was initially classified as a murder, but was later determined to be self-defense. The Mirror included that incident in this article, but only nine of these 10 cases were classified as murders.
At about 11:40 p.m. Feb. 1, in the 31000 block of Ninth Avenue South, officers responded to a shooting. When officers arrived on the scene, they began aiding a 21-year-old male with gunshot wounds. He was identified as Hamze Elmi.
The man later died. Buchanan said the shooting occurred outside of a residence near the front door, and that this incident is being investigated as a homicide. He said a K9 team searched the area but did not locate a suspect. There have been no arrests in this case yet.
At about 4:35 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Pavilion Apartments, 1900 SW Campus Drive, Nena Edmonds was shot and killed.
Two suspects were arrested: Jelani Medina, 19, of Burien, and a 15-year-old boy. In this case, according to charging documents, Medina told officers that on the day of Edmonds’ death, he went to her home to remove intimate videos of him and Edmonds from her phone. Medina said that he went to Edmonds’ apartment with the juvenile suspect and another person identified as Witness E.
Medina said that he took Edmonds’ phone and went to leave her apartment with it, but she jumped on his back to prevent him from taking it. Medina said that as he struggled to get Edmonds off him, the boy tried to push Edmonds off him, but then the boy had a gun in his hand and it discharged three times, according to documents.
The 15-year-old boy is still going through the court process to determine whether he will be charged as an adult or have his case remain in juvenile court. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Medina with domestic-violence first-degree murder, and the 15-year-old boy was charged with second-degree murder.
At 9 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Glen Park at West Campus apartments, 952 SW Campus Drive, following a report of gunshots, officers located a 23-year-old male who had been shot.
Following the discovery of the man, officers secured the area and immediately began administering life-saving measures. The efforts were unsuccessful, and the male succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The alleged victim was Jermaine Quintel Guidry of Tacoma.
A witness reported hearing four to five loud noises and then seeing two Black males, approximately 20 years old, wearing jeans and hoodies, who quickly walked away from the area where the shots were believed to have originated. The Federal Way Police Department reported that the two males are the males of interest in the case.
There have been no arrests in this case yet.
A fatal shooting at about 4:22 p.m. May 3, at the Uptown Square Apartments, 1066 S. 320th St., was determined to be self-defense, so FWPD did not classify the incident as a murder. Buchanan stated that the prosecutor’s office declined to file charges in that case.
In that case, a 13-year-old girl listed as S.B. in charging documents shot and killed Javier Garcia, 20, after he and a 14-year-old boy were allegedly attempting to rob SB of her jacket. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged the 14-year-old boy with second-degree assault, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree robbery, misdemeanor reckless endangerment and misdemeanor theft of a firearm.
According to charging documents, on May 3, the boy and Garcia approached three girls in the parking lot of the Uptown Square Apartments and told S.B. that they would blow her head off. One of the males then told S.B. to give him her stuff, then attempted to punch her, then grabbed at her and possibly tried to take off her North Face coat before S.B. pulled out a gun and shot Garcia in the chest.
The boy and S.B. then tussled for what appeared to be the gun that S.B. shot. The boy then ran south before returning to grab his shoes, and he shot four times at the girls.
At 11:04 p.m. May 3 at 119 S. 330th St., Jose Guadalupe Linares-Morales, 37, of Federal Way, allegedly fatally stabbed Oscar Rios-Villanueva, 34.
In this case, according to charging documents, Rios-Villanueva was going to speak with Linares-Morales because Rios-Villanueva’s daughter was dating Linares-Morales’ son, and she reported that her boyfriend hit her.
A witness told officers that he then saw two males walk up to Rios-Villanueva’s car window and begin to punch him. The friend stated that Rios-Villanueva then exited his car and began to punch one of the men before one of the friends shot a gun in the air as a warning shot. The friend stated that the two men then ran away while Rios-Villanueva was unresponsive on the ground.
Documents state that an autopsy revealed that Rios-Villanueva suffered a single stab wound to the left side of his chest. The stab wound pierced the front of his heart and aorta.
Rios-Villanueva’s daughter stated she was in Linares-Morales’ apartment right before her father was stabbed. Linares-Morales went outside, and when he returned to the apartment, he stated he had stabbed someone because they were bothering him. Rios-Villanueva’s daughter told officers that she went outside and saw her father lying on the ground.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Linares-Morales with second-degree murder.
At about 1:22 a.m. May 17, officers responded to reports of a shooting at the Sunset Three Twenty Apartments in the 32100 block of 18th Avenue Southwest.
Officers discovered an 18-year-old male with a gunshot wound and rendered aid until medics took over lifesaving efforts, but he ultimately died.
According to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, the deceased was Anthony Raul Arellano, 18. His cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and his manner of death was homicide.
“At this stage of the investigation, it is believed that the incident originated as a domestic violence situation involving the victim and his ex-girlfriend,” according to the police department. “There was an altercation between the two parties that ultimately resulted in the shooting.”
There have been no arrests in this case yet.
At 1:02 p.m. May 29, at Glen Park Apartments, 952 SW Campus Drive, Woo Jin Hahn, 29, allegedly killed his 5-year-old daughter, identified in a lawsuit as Soo Jin Hahn, after abusing her, causing her death.
In this case, dispatch received a call from Hahn, who stated his daughter wasn’t breathing. Two Federal Way officers entered the apartment and located Woo Jin Hahn and Soo Jin Hahn. Documents state that Soo Jin Hahn was found unresponsive and not breathing. She would later be declared deceased.
Woo Jin Hahn was then arrested and transported to the police department. Documents state that after signing his Miranda waiver, Woo Jin Hahn said that he believed that Soo Jin Hahn did not respond to anger, so he had to do something harder so she would understand the message. Woo Jin Hahn said that the night before her death, the child would not eat her dinner, so he hit her with the metal cup, striking her all over her hands, arms, body and legs.
Hahn stated that before that, he hit the child with very hard slaps because he exploded with stress, and he knew he should have been patient, but he was weak. When asked if his actions caused the death of his daughter, he answered, “Yes.”
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Woo Jin Hahn with homicide by abuse, and it charged his girlfriend, Cierra Ruby Fisher, 31, with first-degree assault of a child for also allegedly assaulting Soo Jin Hahn, and third-degree assault for allegedly assaulting one of the other children in the home. According to documents, one of the children reported that Fisher hit them in the back of the head with a wooden spoon as punishment, resulting in a lump.
At 3:36 p.m. May 29, at the Cove Apartments, at 33131 First Ave. SW, officers responded to reports of a shooting.
Upon arrival, officers located a 20-year-old Hispanic man from Seattle with a gunshot wound, according to police. Officers and medics attempted lifesaving aid, but the man’s injury was ultimately fatal. The man was identified as Fernando Espinoza.
There have been no arrests in this case yet.
At about 7:32 a.m. Aug. 18, at The Shores Apartments, 31821 Third Place SW, Matthew David Krutenat, 45, allegedly fatally shot Rashawn Nikkovone Lucas.
In this case, according to charging documents, Krutenat was staying at Lucas’ apartment, and Lucas asked Krutenat to move his vehicle because his girlfriend believed the vehicle was stolen.
Lucas’ girlfriend said that she heard a scream and went to see what happened and saw Lucas stumbling backward before he fell to the ground, documents state. She said she saw Krutenat holding a gun and asked him why he shot Lucas before Krutenat left the apartment.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Krutenat with second-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen vehicle.
At about 10:16 p.m. Nov. 26, in the Commons Mall parking lot, Isaiah C. Weiss, 20, of Federal Way, allegedly shot and killed Bailey Bryan Mullen, 26, of Fall City.
In this case, according to charging documents, Weiss was chasing Mullen after he took his grandfather’s firearm from him, and when they got to the parking lot, Weiss’ brother began wrestling with Mullen. Weiss is accused of shooting Mullen two to three times before he and his brother fled from officers.
Weiss’ brother told officers that after the shooting, he retrieved Mullen’s keys from his pocket as he lay shot on the ground, and he retrieved his grandfather’s gun from Mullen’s vehicle. Documents state that Weiss’ brother acknowledged it was a poor decision to try to elude the police, but he did not know what to do in the moment and just wanted to get home.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Weiss with second-degree murder.
