Camano Island man pleads guilty to 2016 shooting death

Published 1:30 am Friday, November 10, 2017

COUPEVILLE — A Camano Island man is looking at nearly two decades behind bars after pleading guilty earlier this week to a July 2016 killing.

Ezekiel Scannell-McCrae, 37, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Joseph Hicks. The victim, 34, was left dead in the street outside the Camano Island home Hicks shared with his girlfriend, who had formerly lived with the defendant.

Under a plea agreement, prosecutors said they’d join the defense in recommending an 18-year sentence for Scannell-McCrae. The punishment includes a mandatory five years behind bars because a firearm was used, plus a standard sentence that could be anywhere from about 11 years to more than 19.

How long is up to the sentencing judge’s discretion.

“This is a just and fair result,” Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks said in a press release. “It gives Mr. Hicks’ survivors certainty in the outcome and a measure of closure, and will impose a substantial period of incarceration.”

Sentencing is expected sometime in December. Meanwhile, Scannell-McRae was being held at the Island County jail with his bail set at $1 million.

The killing happened after Scannell-McCrae had stayed at the home the night before and was asked to leave in the morning. He complied, but confronted Hicks outside.

A witness told police the defendant pulled a handgun when the men were about 10 feet away and fired multiple times. Scannell-McCrae then sat down along the road’s shoulder and waited for deputies, according to court papers.