Kent man convicted in fatal shooting of boy, 12

Published 1:58 pm Friday, February 3, 2012

SEATTLE — A Kent man has been convicted of fatally shooting a 12-year-old boy in the back as he walked home from a store.

Prosecutors told King County Superior Court jurors that Curtis Walker, 35, shot the boy after confusing him with a rival gang member. On Thursday, jurors found Walker guilty of first-degree murder in the April 29, 2010, shooting of Alajawan Brown.

Prosecutors say that just before the shooting, Walker and a friend got into a possibly gang-related gunfight in Skyway. Deputy Prosecutor Jessica Berliner said the boy had just stepped off a bus and had nothing to do with the gun battle. However, he was wearing a blue windbreaker and prosecutors say Walker thought he was a rival gang member.