Leader of home invasion crew admits to killing young Everett mother in 2022

Published 5:42 pm Monday, February 2, 2026

EVERETT — One of the leaders of an armed robbery crew connected to the 2022 home invasion that resulted in the death of Irah Sok pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to racketeering and conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Christopher Johnson, 24, admitted he was involved in a series of violent crimes, allegedly committed alongside his codefendant Kevin Thissel, 29, and their co-conspirators, according to a United States Department of Justice press release.

This comes after a federal grand jury indicted Johnson and Thissel in August 2024.

During the summer of 2022, the men would target families for robberies between Kent and Mount Vernon, the release said. The crew would reportedly create a climate of fear by bursting into homes in the middle of the night, dressed in black, wearing masks and claiming to be police with guns drawn. They used zip-ties to restrain victims, including children as young as nine, and steal any valuables they could get from the home.

The Daily Herald previously reported that Johnson and Thissel would target Asian American families.

Each member of the crew had a job, including identifying potential victims from social media posts, surveilling the target homes, serving as a driver, kicking in the door, corralling the family, holding victims at gunpoint and ransacking the homes. Some of the robbery’s participants were juveniles, the release said.

One of these robberies resulted in the death of the 36-year-old Everett woman.

Around 3 a.m. Aug. 19, 2022, three armed suspects kicked in the front door of Sok’s home in the 2600 block of 96th Street SE. They went into the bedroom where Sok and her husband were sleeping. One shot her as her child, 7, was next to her. The suspects zip-tied her husband on the floor.

The suspects ransacked the house, stole thousands of dollars’ worth of belongings and fled.

Sok’s husband ran to the house of a neighbor, who called 911.

In July, law enforcement arrested a third suspect, Keilani Rae Songcuan, connected to Sok’s death. Prosecutors charged her with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, burglary, robbery and theft.

Alongside the August 2022 incident, Johnson admitted to various other crimes in his plea agreement:

• May 24, 2022, the armed robbery of a family in Mount Vernon and the kidnapping of a young boy.

• May 24, 2022, an attempted robbery on Mercer Island, where one robber fired a gun but missed one of three victims inside the house.

• May 27, 2022, the burglary of an unoccupied residence in Kent.

• June 19, 2022, the attempted burglary of an occupied residence in Kent. One resident fired at the robbery crew, resulting in them fleeing.

• July 14, 2022, the armed robbery of a couple in Burien.

• July 28, 2022, the armed robbery and abduction of a woman in Kent to force her to obtain cash from ATMs.

• August 12, 2022, the robbery of two Kent residents who were locked in a closet during the ransack.

While some of the criminal acts described in the plea agreement have not been formally charged, a judge can consider them in determining the sentence and for restitution purposes.

At his sentencing set for May 6 before U.S. District Judge Lauren King, Johnson faces up to life in prison, the release said. Under his plea agreement, the prosecution and defense will recommend a 25-year prison term.

Additionally, Johnson will plead guilty to second-degree murder in Snohomish County Superior Court for the fatal shooting of Sok, per the plea agreement, the release said. Both sides will recommend a 25-year sentence to run concurrently with the federal sentence.

Johnson is asking the judge to recommend that he serve his sentence in the Washington prison system, but King can decide whether to make the recommendation or not.

The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, the Mount Vernon Police Department, the Kent Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan