Prosecutors charge man in Federal Way murder

King County prosecutors recently charged a Federal Way man in the murder of another local man.

Kevion Maurice Alexander, 25, is being held on $1 million bail at the Regional Justice Center in Kent for first-degree murder after he was charged on March 3. He and a woman, Mykalla K. James, were arrested in connection with the crime on Feb. 28. James was arrested for rendering criminal assistance.

Federal Way detectives claim Alexander shot and killed Andre M. Aber Williams on Jan. 11 before robbing him.

Police responded to the scene in January to find Williams deceased from a gunshot wound in the parking lot of Club Palisades Apartments, 2211 S. Star Lake Road.

Charging documents state investigators interviewed the victim’s family and friends, who told them Williams’ green Chevrolet Tahoe was missing, along with his two cell phones and two large diamond rings.

“Investigators were also told that the victim sold marijuana and prescription pills and was known to keep a backpack with him that he used to transport his narcotics, along with large sums of cash and a compact Glock handgun,” according to the charging documents.

According to detectives, an “associate” of Williams told police the victim had met a woman through Snapchat, a social media app, and had planned to meet with her the night he was killed. At 12:30 a.m., Williams told his friend he was going to drop the woman off at her residence at Club Palisades Apartments and then meet with his friend. Williams never showed up, however.

The next day, police and firefighters responded to a vehicle fire in the 32300 block of Hoyt Road Southwest. Investigators found a large amount of dried blood inside the vehicle, identified as belonging to Williams.

Upon searching the Tahoe, detectives noted a stereo, amplifier and speaker box were removed.

Throughout the investigation, detectives retrieved video surveillance, placing the woman – James, who was later discovered to be Alexander’s girlfriend – at the crime scene. James’ white Buick Century was seen following Williams’ Chevy Tahoe from the apartment complex that night.

On Feb. 27, a Federal Way police officer saw that same Buick traveling in the city and identified the woman driving it as James. She was connected to Alexander through a Jan. 20 domestic dispute in which police had responded. Police also learned that an associate of Alexander’s lived four blocks from the location where the Tahoe was set on fire.

In searching that friend’s pawn transaction history, detectives discovered he had pawned an amplifier similar to the one stolen, according to police reports. Police seized phone records through a search warrant, which eventually led to the arrest of Alexander, James and his associate.

Through subsequent interviews, Alexander’s friend implicated him in the murder.

Post-Miranda, Alexander confirmed his cell phone number but denied knowing to whom the stolen amplifier belonged, according to the charging documents.

He told police he went with his associate to buy the amplifier, and he bought two speakers. He said he realized the speaker box wouldn’t fit in his Cadillac, however, so he decided to sell them through offerupnow.com. He met two men at Big 5 Sporting Goods but they robbed him of the speakers, stating that they belonged to their “partner” who had “just got killed.”

When police told Alexander his friend told police he was connected to the murder, Alexander “abruptly invoked his right to counsel and terminated the interview,” according to charging documents.

Prosecutors wrote in charging documents that Alexander is an “extreme danger to public safety” and has a criminal history. In 2009, as a juvenile, Alexander was charged with residential burglary, stealing a car and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was convicted as an adult in Kitsap County in 2010 for first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, residential burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, for which he was sentenced in 2011 to 67 months in prison. Charging documents state he was released from prison in July 2015 and was on probation during the time of the suspected murder.

Alexander will be arraigned Thursday at the Kent Regional Justice Center.