Rainier Valley Shopkeeper Gets 10 Years In Slaying -- Immigrant Had Claimed Self-Defense
A Rainier Valley convenience-store shopkeeper, convicted of killing a young man he claimed was part of a shoplifting ring, has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
Zeleke Kassahun had dreamed of owning a business in America long before he emigrated from Ethiopia in the mid-1980s. Within three weeks of realizing that dream - as co-owner of the Texaco Rainier Express Lane market on Rainier Avenue South, south of Dearborn Street - Kassahun was accused of shooting Jesse Walker.
A King County Superior Court jury convicted Kassahun in December of second-degree murder. Yesterday, Judge Jim Bates sentenced him to 123 months in prison - a term at the bottom of the standard range.
Walker, 18, and his wife entered the market late Aug. 4. 1991, and were immediately confronted by Kassahun and his co-owners, according to court records. An argument ensued, and Walker went outside the store and challenged Kassahun to a fight.
Kassahun pointed a handgun at Walker and fired a bullet into his forehead. Kassahun testified that Walker and his friends had been stealing, and that calls to police had not stopped the thievery. He said he was trying to defend himself and protect his store when the gun accidentally discharged.
Kassahun pleaded for a sentence below the standard range for his crime, saying the killing had destroyed his lifelong dream.
"I know how it feels to live without freedom," he told the judge. "Although I have been incarcerated since my trial, this tragedy has eaten away at me since it happened and has changed my life forever."
During the trial, the prosecution accused Kassahun of unfairly trying to portray Walker as a gang member feasting on an innocent merchant.
"The defendant (Kassahun) had worked at the store for three weeks," said senior deputy prosecutor Kerry Keefe, "and he has tried to paint a picture of lawless gangs taking over. He was not preyed upon. He was angry and he took it out on Jesse Walker."
Family and friends of both Kassahun and Walker crowded into Bates' courtroom.
Members of Seattle's Ethiopian community offered to put up between $20,000 and $30,000 for Kassahun's bond, but the judge refused to allow Kassahun to remain free on bond pending an appeal.