More trouble for man charged in Everett assault

Published 1:30 am Monday, October 31, 2016

EVERETT — A Lynnwood man under investigation for shooting another man multiple times in the legs allegedly was involved in another shooting eight months later.

Also during that time he struck and killed a 7-year-old girl riding her scooter in south Everett.

Prosecutors last week charged Jacq Mitchell, 24, with second-degree assault with a firearm for last year’s shooting in Mukilteo. Mitchell was already being held on $500,000 bail for an Aug. 8 shooting in Everett.

In both cases, Mitchell is accused of shooting unarmed men during disputes.

The first incident was reported Dec. 21 in a Mukilteo apartment building. Mitchell was arrested the next day and allegedly told police he was acting in self-defense. Witness statements and the victim’s injuries didn’t match up with the defendant’s story, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Elise Deschenes wrote in court papers filed last week.

Detectives were told that the victim confronted Mitchell after seeing him enter the apartment of a man who Mitchell had allegedly beaten up in the past. Witnesses said the men “had words” and then gunfire rang out. Mitchell fled the apartment.

The victim had two gunshot wounds to his right thigh. His femur was fractured in six places. He also had three gunshot wounds to his left thigh, including a through-and-through shot.

He told police there was a struggle for the gun and the first shot lodged in the ceiling. He said the second shot likely shattered his femur. He crumpled to the ground. Mitchell is accused of shooting the man twice more while he was on the ground.

During their investigation Mukilteo police learned that Mitchell was investigated for murder in Seattle. He also claimed self-defense in that case. King County prosecutors declined to file charges, claiming there wasn’t sufficient evidence to charge him with a crime.

Mitchell bailed out of jail the day after his Dec. 22 arrest in connection with the Mukilteo case.

The investigation stalled in part because of some of the witnesses were uncooperative. Prosecutors also had a hard time tracking down the victim once he was released from the hospital. They didn’t know if he would cooperate or if he could be found in time for a trial.

It wasn’t until the man was booked in June for robbery that they were able to locate him, Deschenes said. He’s since been sentenced to prison.

“Now that we know where he is we can go forward,” Deschenes said. “We only get one shot. We have to make sure our ducks are in a row before we move forward.”

In the meantime, Mitchell came under investigation in May for a crash that took the life of first-grader Maimuna Bayo. Mitchell struck the girl as she was riding her scooter in the roadway outside an apartment complex along 111th Street SE.

Detectives concluded that there was no evidence that Mitchell could have prevented the accident. They didn’t find that he had acted with negligence. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office announced earlier this month that detectives would not recommend any criminal charges.

Mitchell has been named in a lawsuit filed by the girl’s parents. The lawsuit alleges that Mitchell was negligent and failed to yield to a pedestrian.

Three months after the car crash Mitchell allegedly shot another man and pistol-whipped the mother of his infant daughter. The Aug. 8 incident reportedly started at a Walmart. Mitchell allegedly assaulted his girlfriend in front of multiple customers and her young children.

Police were told Mitchell grabbed the couple’s infant and drove off. She followed him to her mother’s house, where he allegedly was screaming at her while holding their daughter. The woman’s cousin attempted to intervene and demanded Mitchell leave, according to court papers.

The dispute spiralled out of control. Witnesses told police that Mitchell pulled a handgun and started beating his girlfriend with it while she was holding their baby. The woman’s cousin tried to break up the assault. He shoved Mitchell who allegedly fired at the man. Witnesses told police the victim was walking away when Mitchell started shooting.

The man was struck twice, including a gunshot wound to his calf. Mitchell’s girlfriend had multiple injuries, including cuts and bruises to her head, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Scott Halloran wrote.

Mitchell was arrested after a lengthy standoff with a SWAT team. Police recovered a 9mm pistol from that scene.

The “defendant showed a shocking indifference to the consequences of his actions, firing multiple shots in the front yard as four children played and jumped on a trampoline nearby,” Halloran wrote in asking for $500,000 in bail.

Halloran charged Mitchell with two counts of second-degree assault about two weeks after the shooting in Everett.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.