As the year draws to a close, here’s a status update on a dozen murder cases tied to the Federal Way area from the past few years.

In the criminal justice system, a charge is only an accusation of criminal wrongdoing. Anyone accused of a crime is considered innocent in the court system until proven guilty.

Most cases end with either a guilty plea — which can involve prosecutors agreeing to reduced charges to avoid a costly trial — or a trial, in which the defendant gives their side of the story and tries to prove they’re not guilty of the crime, and prosecutors try to prove that they are.

But cases can take years to reach that point. Both sides need to research the case and argue pre-trial motions. Sometimes, defendants get new attorneys, who need time to catch up on the case. And even when both sides are ready, finding a trial date is often hampered by illness, vacations and other mundane scheduling problems.

As a result, these dates are accurate as of this article posting, but may change later. The Mirror will follow these cases and report on their ultimate outcomes.

Richard Bradley

Bradley is charged with the first-degree murder of Brandi Blake, a Federal Way woman who went missing in May 2021. Blake died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled her death a homicide. Prosecutors say Bradley killed her and buried her body in an Auburn park. Bradley’s trial is currently scheduled for March 23, 2023.

Sir Antonio-Patrick Agee II

Agee is charged with first-degree murder in the Fourth of July shooting death of Matthew Saelor this year. Based on witness reports, prosecutors say Agee was in the back of a white sedan speeding down a residential street in Federal Way. Saelor and family were lighting fireworks at the time in the area, according to witness statements.

Someone yelled at the driver to slow down because there were kids nearby, and a witness told police that someone — later identified as Agee — yelled back and fired several gunshots out of the window, with one of those bullets striking Saelor in the head. Saelor died three days after the shooting. Agee is scheduled for trial on Feb. 13, 2023.

Judi Kilma

Kilma is charged with second-degree murder after allegedly throwing a rock at Joseph Lee Simmons during an argument at a Safeway in Federal Way in September. Simmons never regained consciousness after being struck and died four days later at Harborview. Kilma told police he threw the rock because he was angry at Simmons but didn’t intend to kill him, according to court documents.

According to witnesses cited in the police investigation, Simmons had punctured Kilma’s front bicycle tire with a knife, which angered Kilma, according to that witness. Video surveillance, according to investigators, showed Kilma walk away and return, then throw a fist-sized rock from his jacket, striking Simmons on the left side of the head. Kilma’s trial is scheduled for March 15, 2023.

Patrick Tables Jr.

Tables Jr. is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 19-year-old Andre Davis in July 2021. According to police, city security cameras captured the driver of a Chevy Impala — later identified as Tables Jr. — pull up alongside Davis’ Mercedes-Benz at an intersection and begin firing a handgun at the Mercedes-Benz. Davis died from multiple gunshot wounds, and prosecutors say the shooting was unprovoked.

When interviewed by police, Tables Jr. denied knowing Davis or having any knowledge of his death. Tables Jr. is set for trial on March 14, 2022.

Melvin Lewis Taylor Jr.

Taylor Jr. became the suspect in a 2002 murder in Federal Way after DNA collected from him for an unrelated crime linked him to that case and a 2018 rape in Burien, according to prosecutors. In both cases, prosecutors allege Taylor raped women in alleys behind commercial buildings late at night. The 2002 case, according to investigators, also ended with Taylor killing the victim, who was determined by medical examiners to have been strangled to death. When interviewed by detectives, Taylor denied committing either crime.

Taylor is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in the Federal Way case. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2023.

Erick R. Alvarez-Lopez and Angelo D. Trejo-Martinez

Alvarez-Lopez and Trejo-Martinez are both charged with first-degree murder in the drive-by shooting of 19-year-old Daniel Helmbrecht in Federal Way in April 2020.

Prosecutors call the shooting a “retaliatory murder” that appears to be related to a feud in the area. They allege the two men, both listed as having Des Moines addresses, abruptly stopped in the Westway neighborhood of Federal Way. Trejo-Martinez allegedly opened fire on Helmbrecht, who was walking to meet a friend, while Alvarez-Lopez drove. Trejo-Martinez and Alvarez-Lopez are scheduled for trial on Jan. 24, 2023.

Kaejah Duncan

Duncan is accused of second-degree murder for the Labor Day shooting this year of Aniyah Lowe. Duncan and three other women were reportedly involved in an argument over dumping trash at an apartment complex, according to police records, which escalated to the point that Duncan fired at Lowe. In a police interview, Duncan said she had fired two shots at the van in self-defense. Duncan’s trial is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2023.

Robert Nelson III

Nelson is accused of first-degree murder in the Nov. 2021 killing of Uso Hale at a Federal Way gas station. Prosecutors say he fatally shot Hale in the front seat of his car at a gas station, and left Hale’s body face-down in a watery ditch in unincorporated King County. Nelson is scheduled for trial on March 27, 2023.

Beverly Jenne

Jenne pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree assault on Dec. 2, 2021, in the 2019 killing of roommates Janet Enid Akyinyi Oyuga and the assault of Angela Atieno, both of whom Jenne shot. She was sentenced in January 2022 to 28 years and 7 months in prison.

Patrick Leon Nicholas

Nicholas is charged with first-degree murder in the 1991 killing of Sarah Yarborough, who was a 16-year-old Federal Way student. Nicholas, who was 27 at the time of the killing, was charged in October 2019 after an independent forensic genealogist identified a lead on Nicholas as a person of interest in Yarborough’s killing based on DNA evidence.

Officers, according to charging documents, began surveying Nicholas and covertly collected items he’d discarded to test for DNA evidence. When they found a match to evidence found from the scene of Yarborough’s murder, they arrested Nicholas. Nicholas’ trial is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2023.

Nicky Juneau

Juneau is charged with second-degree murder in the 2020 killing of Sean McMullin, in which police say Juneau along with several others started a fight with McMullin over an alleged theft of Juneau’s girlfriend’s money.

In video surveillance of the murder, Juneau knocks on the door of the room McMullin was staying in, and McMullin comes out of his room. Shortly after, a fight breaks out, and during the fight, Juneau makes apparent quick jabbing motions at McMullin’s chest, after which McMullin attempts to run away, but disappears off-screen of the footage. McMullin’s body was found on the walkway where he was shown to have fallen in the footage with two stab wounds to his chest, according to police. Juneau is scheduled for trial on Feb. 15, 2023.