A 31-year-old Spanaway convenience store owner was sentenced Friday to
just over eight years in prison for the fatal shooting of a shoplifter
trying to flee his shop last year.
Pierce County Superior Court
Judge John Hickman sentenced Min Sik Kim, 31, owner of the Pacific Quick
Shop on Pacific Avenue in Spanaway. Kim had pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder.
On March 25, 2016, Kim went outside to tell
a group of men loitering outside his store to leave. Video surveillance
from inside the store shows that while Kim was outside, a man later
identified as Jakeel Rashon Mason, 21, attempted to steal cigarettes
from behind the counter.
As Kim re-enters the store, surveillance
video shows Kim with a handgun in his right hand. Kim points the gun at
Mason and physically grabs Mason and forces him further into the store.
Mason puts both hands up and is not resisting. Kim then holsters the
gun before punching Mason in the face. The two men engage in a physical
fight where both men exchange punches. Kim gets taken to the floor by
Mason as both men continue to fight for several seconds.
The
video shows Mason was able to free himself and attempted to flee the
store. Kim stood up and removed the firearm from the holster, positioned
himself behind Mason, raised the gun, and shot Mason twice in the back
as Mason fled.
Mason collapsed in the doorway and died before medical aid arrived.
“I’m
here to take responsibility for my actions in taking Mason’s life,” Mr.
Kim said during sentencing. “I accept the consequences. I did not have
the right to take his life.”
Kim’s wife was clerking the same
store in February 2015 when the store was robbed by a different person.
The robber displayed a gun and the two fired at each other. She was
shot, but survived.
요약:
31세 한인 편의점 업주가 강도에게 총을 쏴서 강도 사망. 8년형 선고.
2015년에 아내가 가게 보다가 강도에게 총을 맞은 적이 있는데 살아남음.
김씨는 자신이 생명을 앗아갈 권리는 없었고 책임을 지겠다고 얘기함.
