EVERETT — An Everett man won’t face charges for gunfire that killed a man in 2013 outside a Denny’s on Evergreen Way.
Prosecutors say the evidence shows that Heath Mitchell was attacked during an attempted robbery inside the Sunrise Motor Inn.
Mitchell, 39, shot Robert Scott during the melee. Scott, 39, staggered outside and into the parking lot of the neighboring restaurant, where he collapsed and died.
Mitchell ran from the motel and dumped the gun behind an apartment building. He was arrested when he tried to return home. He was bleeding from the head. He also was carrying methamphetamine.
Scott, who was armed, allegedly planned to rob Mitchell during a drug sale. Mitchell was dealing meth and heroin from the motel room. He and Scott knew each other from prison.
“It looked like (Mitchell) had a strong self-defense case. It appeared that he was attacked first. That was confirmed by other people in the room and the visible injuries to his head,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Chris Dickinson said.
At the time of the shooting Scott was wanted for failing to report to his community corrections officer. He’d been convicted in 2010 after shooting a man in the groin while trying to collect an unpaid drug debt.
Mitchell isn’t off the hook for other crimes tied to the 2013 shooting. He is facing up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced next month for illegal gun possession, drug trafficking and vehicle theft.
Mitchell pleaded guilty late last month to multiple felonies. As part of the plea, prosecutors agreed not to charge him in connection with the homicide.
Dickinson plans to recommend a high-end sentence. He also plans to oppose Mitchell’s request for a special sentence for offenders with drug addictions. Mitchell is expected to ask to spend half of his prison sentence in drug treatment.
Mitchell is a longtime drug user.
He posted bail after the fatal shooting. While awaiting trial, he stole a car from outside a south Everett home. He was arrested a short distance away and told police he took the car because he was homeless and cold. He has been in custody since the car theft.
He has multiple felony convictions for drugs and property crimes. He was convicted in 1998 and 2000 of illegal gun possession.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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