Father no longer suspected in child’s shooting death in Federal Way

SEATTLE — An 8-year-old Federal Way girl shot Sunday in her apartment when a bullet traveled through several walls later died, and police say her father is no longer considered a suspect.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the girl as Royal’lee Wallace and determined she died Monday from a gunshot wound to the head, the Seattle Times reported.

Attempts by the newspaper to contact Royal’lee’s family Friday were unsuccessful. But relatives told KIRO 7 Royal’lee wanted to be a scientist.

Federal Way police responded to St. Francis Hospital around 11:30 a.m. Sunday and learned the shooting happened in an apartment. Police initially said the girl’s father, identified previously as Cherith Wallace, was handling a gun when it discharged. The girl was later transported to Harborview Medical Center.

Police, after working with King County Prosecutor’s Office attorneys, arrested the father, who had been with her at St. Francis Hospital and told police he had been alone in the apartment with his child at the time of the shooting, Federal Way Cmdr. Kurt Schwan said in a news release.

The father was booked into jail Monday but released Tuesday, jail records show. He has not been charged with a crime.

Detectives later learned that two other people were in the apartment when the shooting occurred, Schwan said. The investigation has shifted to locating the person who is now believed to have fired the gunshot, police said.