Police: Man fatally shot intervening in domestic dispute

Associated Press

SEATTLE – Prosecutors in Washington state say a Kent man called 911 in March to report his roommate had been shot in the chest after trying to intervene in a domestic disturbance he heard in a neighbor’s apartment.

Court records show King County prosecutors charged Darian Downing, 27, last week on second-degree murder charges in connection to the fatal shooting of Marcus Golden, 28, the Seattle Times reported. Downing was arrested April 13 as he was leaving his mother’s apartment in Renton.

Downing, who was also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, was out on bail in an unrelated domestic-violence robbery and assault case at the time of the Kent shooting and was under court order not to possess firearms, court records say. He remains jailed on $3 million bail.

Downing’s attorneys, Ramona Brandes and Matthew Heintz, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Prosecutors said Golden’s roommate, who was not identified, called 911 at 1:43 a.m. March 30 after hearing a woman crying and screaming in the unit above his residence at the Mosaic Hills Apartments. He called again 12 minutes later to ask about the delayed police response. The third time, he called at 2:12 a.m. to report a suspect shot his roommate and left the scene on foot.

Charging papers say no words were exchanged between the men and that Golden died at the scene. The roommate told police he and Golden had previous encounters with the man and had called 911 at least once before to report a domestic disturbance.

Charging papers also indicated that the woman who lives in the apartment where the argument occurred later identified Downing and received calls from him and his mother while police were present but didn’t answer the calls. She also told police her argument with Downing was not physical.

An arraignment is scheduled for April 29.