A Federal Way man who was arrested for a 2023 Auburn burglary turned shootout. has received a slightly longer sentence than his codefendant.
On Jan. 9, a King County Superior Court judge sentenced Lonzell Isaiah King, 29, of Federal Way, to 77 months in prison for second-degree attempted burglary and 75 months for unlawful possession of a firearm, to run at the same time. These charges stem from an Oct. 19, 2023, incident where King, alongside Davante Naicell Leach, 33, of Tacoma, and another unknown suspect, attempted to burglarize an Auburn home, but instead got into a shootout with the homeowner.
For the Oct. 19, 2023, incident, Leach received a 57-month sentence (nearly five years) on Dec. 11, 2025, for first-degree burglary.
Auburn Police Department spokesperson Kolby Crossley stated that a third suspect in the case has yet to be identified.
King was initially charged with first-degree attempted burglary and two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. However, following an Alford Plea, one of the counts of unlawful possession of a firearm was dismissed, and he pleaded to first-degree attempted burglary and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
According to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, an Alford Plea registers a formal admission of guilt toward charges while the defendant simultaneously expresses their innocence toward those same charges.
The Oct. 19, 2023, attempted burglary involving King and Leach matched a pattern of numerous armed home invasions targeting Asian households at that time. According to documents, King County had seen a significant increase in violent home invasion-style robberies, with suspects appearing to target persons of Asian descent.
Details of the case
At around 2 a.m. Oct. 19, the Auburn Police Department was dispatched to a residence in the 31000 block of 117th Place Southeast after receiving a report of a non-injury shooting, documents state.
Security footage of the incident showed three masked men carrying guns and announcing themselves as “Seattle police” before attempting to kick down the door.
The homeowner, who was armed, fired multiple shots at the intruders through the door, shattering the glass of their storm door, footage shows. According to documents, the suspects retreated from the porch and began firing at the residents of the home from outside before fleeing in an unknown direction.
Documents state that the homeowner who fired at the intruders advised officers that a loud banging woke up him and his wife. Fearing for their lives, the homeowner armed himself with a handgun and fired shots at the suspects.
Officers connected King to the case because a cellphone that was left behind at the scene belonged to him. The cellphone’s GPS data showed him leaving his Federal Way home, going to Renton, and then to the Auburn area, where and when the incident occurred. Officers later found the phone at the scene.
King was further connected to the incident because a Glock was left behind, and in February 2024, DNA results showed that King’s DNA was on the grip of the firearm. According to documents, in an attempt to locate King, officers learned from Kent police that King was also a suspect in multiple home invasions of Asian families in Kent.
Officers then arrested King on April 4, 2024, without incident. King denied involvement in any criminal activity and stated he did not know who Leach was.
Documents state that Leach was linked to the incident because when officers found King’s phone at the scene, a phone number belonging to Leach repeatedly called the phone. Through that, an investigator found that Leach was staying at a Renton hotel. The GPS data on Leach’s phone placed him at the hotel at the same time as footage captured him there before the incident, and at the home of the incident when it occurred.
Officers then arrested Leach at that hotel on Nov. 1, 2023, and on his person, officers found a Glock pistol with an attachment that made it fully automatic, and pants that were the same kind officers believe he wore during the burglary attempt.
Security footage of the incident showed three masked men carrying guns and announcing themselves as “Seattle police” prior to attempting to kick down the door. File photo
