A 19-year-old male allegedly fighting with a girl over a phone led to a juvenile male allegedly fatally shooting the girl at a Federal Way apartment complex, resulting in both males going to jail and being charged with murder.
On Oct. 10, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) charged Jelani Medina, 19, of Burien, with domestic-violence first-degree murder. The charge stems from the Feb. 13 shooting death of 18-year-old Nena Edmonds at the Pavilion Apartments, 1900 SW Campus Drive, Federal Way.
Additionally, on Oct. 10, the office charged a 16-year-old boy with second-degree murder, also stemming from Edmonds’ death. According to KCPAO spokesperson Douglas Wagoner, the boy was 15 years old when the shooting of Edmonds occurred, so he has initially been charged as a juvenile.
However, Wagoner said that prosecutors filed a motion to charge the boy as an adult, and on Oct. 13, there is a hearing where a judge will determine if the boy will be prosecuted in juvenile or adult court. Wagoner said 16- and 17-year-olds are automatically tried as adults if they are charged with a serious violent offense, or if they are charged with a violent offense and have certain qualifying criminal history. Wagoner said 15-year-olds charged with serious violent offenses and people age 14 or younger charged with first- or second-degree murder must have discretionary hearings before they can be prosecuted in adult court.
Wagoner said if the boy is kept in juvenile court, juvenile rehabilitation jurisdiction generally ends at age 21, and they will not serve time in the Department of Corrections. However, if their sentence exceeds their 21st birthday, the remainder of their sentence would be served in juvenile rehabilitation, Wagoner said.
If the boy is moved to adult court, the longest he could stay in juvenile rehabilitation jurisdiction would be age 25, Wagoner said. Then, he would serve the remainder of his sentence in the Department of Corrections, but a judge could still decide to impose a shorter sentence, Wagoner said.
“In this particular case, prosecutors filed a motion asking a judge to transfer the respondent for adult criminal prosecution because we believe that is in the best interest of the public and the respondent,” Wagoner said.
According to the King County Adult and Juvenile Detention jail lookup portal, when Medina was charged with murder, he was already in King County jail because he was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and given a $150,000 bond. At the time of his murder charge filing, a $5 million bond was imposed.
Details of the case
At about 4:35 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Pavilion Apartments, a 911 caller reported that a woman later identified as 18-year-old Edmonds was injured on the ground outside an apartment building. Documents state that South King Fire and King County Medics responded and found that Edmonds suffered an obvious head injury consistent with a gunshot wound.
Documents state that officers found a trail of blood leading to Edmonds’ apartment unit. Based upon review of injuries and photographs of the crime scene, the medical examiner’s office determined that Edmonds could have remained conscious for several minutes after she was shot.
According to documents, officers reviewed security footage from the apartment complex and identified a Hyundai Elantra with a visible license plate entering the complex at approximately 3:48 p.m. and then departing rapidly at 4:06 p.m. Subsequently, officers determined who the primary driver of the Elantra was.
Documents state that someone who spent time with Edmonds before her death said that Medina stayed at Edmonds’ apartment about two weeks prior to her death, and he was known to carry a handgun. Officers searched Medina’s cell phone records and found that on the day of Edmonds’ death, between 3:51 p.m. and 4:18 p.m., his phone connected to a cellular tower that covers the Pavilion Apartments.
According to documents, during the investigation of the crime, Medina was interviewed and said he had a relationship with Edmonds, but his story changed numerous times from having never seen Edmonds on Feb. 13, to then providing details about her fatal shooting. Medina said the day of her death, he went to her home to remove intimate videos of him and Edmonds from her phone, documents state.
According to documents, 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.
According to the driver of the Elantra, when Medina returned, he had a bleeding scratch on his chin, but he did not seem to care about what had happened. According to documents, the driver said that the boy entered the car and screamed three times, “I shot her,” and he seemed to be in shock, while Witness E looked like he was going to vomit.
