A 44-year-old Federal Way man has been sentenced for a murder charge after a fatal shooting in Seattle in 2020.
Jonathan Cleo Webb was sentenced on Sept. 8 for the shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Jay Treadwell after a verbal altercation on a Metro bus in Seattle. Webb pleaded guilty to murder in the 2nd degree on July 26.
The felony count resulted in a sentence of 194 months with time served. Webb is to have no contact with any of the victim’s family members for life.
According to charging documents, Jonathan Cleo Webb and Walter Jay Treadwell were engaged in a heated argument on a metro bus at 9:50 p.m. Aug. 17, 2020. As the bus approached the bus stop at the 4600 block of Aurora Avenue, “Treadwell waited near the rear door to exit, while the shooter waited in his seat. As Treadwell exited the bus, the shooter rose and followed him. After disembarking, Treadwell put his belongings down in the bus shelter and he took his shirt off and raised his arms.”
After throwing a pair of shoes to the ground, Webb raised a firearm and appeared to attempt to shoot Treadwell. The gun did not fire, so Webb racked the slide and attempted to fire again, this time firing three rounds.
Utilizing a still image from a surveillance camera on the bus, police looked for the suspect for the next few days. On Aug. 20, 2020, around 10:30 a.m., a detective saw someone who matched the photo of the suspect in Downtown Seattle around 3rd Avenue and James Street.
A pat-down revealed that the man was in possession of a firearm with the same caliber bullets as those that killed Treadwell. His identity was determined through his personal belongings. He was then transported to the homicide office.
Webb initially denied any knowledge of the incident in question. After being shown still images from the bus, he identified himself as the person in the images, but denied any altercation occurred. After viewing the video of himself shooting Treadwell, he claimed his actions were in self-defense due to threatening words said by Treadwell and the action of removing his shirt as though he wanted to fight.
Webb did not have an answer as to why he did not fight Treadwell rather than choosing to shoot, and stated that he did not see any weapon on Treadwell at the time.
Treadwell was found face down on the sidewalk at the bus stop. He was unresponsive and had multiple gunshot wounds. Life-saving efforts were attempted, but not successful, and Seattle Fire Department personnel declared him deceased at the scene.
