Restaurant owner killed; suspect at large

When his former business partner was gunned down in 2003, Degene Barecha vowed to continue their successful Central Area cheese-steak restaurant.

Barecha believed that failing to do so would tarnish the memory of Troy Hackett, whose slaying on a Seattle street has not been solved, said Barecha's niece, Kulla Jatani.

Barecha, 32, worked tirelessly seven days a week to become Seattle's best cheese steak chef, Jatani said. He dreamed of franchising his Philadelphia Cheese Steak restaurant and, most of all, happiness with his new bride, Meselech Edema, who was to immigrate here from Ethiopia in June.

But on Wednesday, days before Barecha planned to open a new restaurant in the Central Area, he was shot to death and a customer was critically wounded at Philadelphia Cheese Steak. Police believe the shootings are connected with a shooting less than 30 minutes earlier at a West Seattle apartment complex, which was sprayed with gunfire.

Police have identified a suspect in the shootings as Rey Alberto Davis-Bell, 23, of Seattle.

Police have launched a massive search for Davis-Bell. He is believed to be driving a black 2002 Lincoln Continental, with license plate 210 XMJ. The vehicle has chrome wheels and heavily tinted windows.

"This suspect is very heavily armed and very dangerous," said Seattle police Capt. Mike Fann. Police warn that anyone who sees Davis-Bell should call 911 and not approach him.

Police did not say why they believe Davis-Bell was the gunman.

Police usually don't identify criminal suspects until they have been booked into jail, but they released his name and photo in this case because they believe he could be a danger to others.

Police said the first shooting, at the Longfellow Creek Apartments in the 5900 block of Delridge Way Southwest at 10:47 a.m., was apparently related to some type of domestic dispute. But the connection with the shooting at the restaurant at 11:15 a.m. was unclear.

Jatani said her uncle knew the gunman, but she declined to give details because of the ongoing investigation.

Davis-Bell has been convicted of assault and harassment. Since his release from prison in December 2006, he has been complying by the terms of his probation, according to the state Department of Corrections.

He was convicted of felony harassment after he threatened to shoot an employee at Miller Community Center in the Central Area in March 2002, according to court records. In June 2002, Davis-Bell threatened a cabdriver at gunpoint and was convicted of assault in April 2003.

Davis-Bell was determined to be "a danger to the community," according to court records.

According to criminal records, he is associated with the Black Gangster Disciples gang.

Seattle police would not identify Barecha as the victim, only saying that two adult men were shot at the restaurant at 23rd Avenue and East Union Street. Details about the wounded man were sketchy Wednesday night.

Police would not say whether they believed Barecha or the second man had been targeted by the gunman.

Jatani, Barecha's niece, said she spoke with an employee of the restaurant who escaped the gunfire. The employee told her the wounded man had been a customer. The customer was shot as he tried to run toward safety, she said. The employee was not hurt.

"We don't know why he [the suspect] was there, but we knew he knew my uncle," Jatani said.

Carrie Halterman, the manager of a state liquor store adjacent to the restaurant, said she heard between six and eight gunshots, but initially believed it was noise from a construction site.

"It didn't register for about 30 seconds that it was actually gunshots," she said.

Hackett, 38, Barecha's best friend and business partner, was fatally shot in his car at the corner of 19th Avenue and East Fir Street in July 2003. He was the popular co-owner of Philly's Best Steaks and Hoagies, and his slaying shocked the neighborhood.

Jatani said her uncle vowed to continue the business because he "didn't want to feel like whoever did it won."

"He was very upset; they were like brothers. That's why he wanted to keep going," said Jatani, 21. "He wouldn't go down without a fight."

Barecha, who emigrated from Ethiopia about a decade ago, changed the name of the restaurant, enrolled in online business courses and spent hours perfecting his cheese steak, Jatani said.

"He was there from when it opened until it closed, seven days a week," Jatani said. "It was his life, his baby."

Four months ago, Barecha traveled to Ethiopia and married a woman he had met through relatives, Jatani said. He recently bought a house and was preparing it for his new bride.

"He's always wanted to have a wife that would take care of his home. He wanted a child and to take his family to church every Sunday," Jatani said.

Jatani said she last talked to Barecha a few days ago, but had planned to stop by the restaurant Wednesday night to talk with her uncle about his plan to move his restaurant a few blocks east.

"He's so young and he was working and sweating, and working for everything he had and everything was finally coming together," she said. "He was getting really good business and he had it all taken away. He wasn't born in America and he was the ideal citizen."

The Rev. Getachew Jiga, who leads the Church of God of Prophecy in Seattle's South Park neighborhood, said Barecha was a member of the church who helped lead their youth group and mentored teens.

"He's a very nice person, not terrible at all. He's a born-again Christian," Jiga said.

Suga Chambliss, who works at Thompson's Point of View, a Creole restaurant behind the Philadelphia Cheese Steak, said it's uncommon to see violence in the area during the day. She said she often talked to Barecha, known around the neighborhood by his childhood nickname "Safei," and they often shared restaurant supplies.

"People eat over there then they come over here," Chambliss said Wednesday afternoon, pointing toward the Philadelphia Cheese Steak. "We're all family."

Barecha never talked about feeling unsafe in the Central Area nor did he talk about being in danger, Jiga said. The church is planning to host a prayer service in the slain man's memory on Friday, Jiga added.

"Pray for us," he pleaded. "We need to do something about this violence in Seattle."

While some residents said crime in the neighborhood had seemingly escalated in recent years, a check of reports taken by police in four surrounding census tracts shows crime has decreased in the past 10 years. During that time, murders have fluctuated from a high of six in 2003 to none in 2006. There were three slayings in the area in 2007, according to Times research of police reports.

Aggravated assaults went from 167 in 1998 to 94 in 2007.

Seattle Times staff reporters Brian Alexander, Natalie Singer, Jack Broom, Justin Mayo and news researchers Miyoko Wolf and Gene Balk contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com