KENT, Wash. — A 37-year-old woman was allegedly shot and left for dead by a man who propositioned her for sex. Her mother says it took hard work by Kent police to make an arrest a full year later.
The suspect, a Tacoma man, allegedly shot and nearly killed two homeless women on the same night last April.
Kent detectives had to wait for new technology to actually crack this case. They got some new software that allowed them to get through the password protection on his phone. Once they did they say they found a “trove of evidence” linking him to the crimes, with both of them happening near the parking lot of a 7-Eleven.
As soon as one arrives at the 7-Eleven on Kent’s Central Avenue South, it is apparent the area is a hangout for those who have no place else to go, says KIRO 7′s Deborah Horne.
Prosecutors say the 7-Eleven is where 36-year-old James-David Algarin was stalking homeless women and looking for sex.
“It is unusual to see these kinds of allegations,” said Casey McNerthney, King County Prosecutor spokesman.
On April 14, 2022, surveillance video at the 7-Eleven captured Algarin talking to 37-year-old Kassandra Sieck Jackson. She told police she got into his car and they ended up near the Lincoln Street Park and Ride. But when he asked for sex, she refused. Kent police say that is when he shot her with his pistol and took off.
According to court documents, he drove to his home, in Kent at the time, and then returned to the 7-Eleven with an AR-15 style rifle.
That’s when he allegedly propositioned Molly Dimitriou. She, too, refused his offer of sex. He shot her at least three times, once in the head, nearly killing her.
“The police did a lot of work over the last year,” said McNerthney. “And new technology was a help for them.”
McNerthney says this case shows that investigators were determined to find and arrest the suspect in these troubling cases.
“Regardless of who the victim may be,” he said, “whether you’re experiencing homelessness or whether you live on the shores of Lake Washington, you deserve equal justice under the law.”
Kassandra Jackson’s mother says they worried they would lose her when she was shot. She is still suffering from the injury.
But her mother hopes this will be the wake-up call she needs to get her life back on track.
As for the suspect, he is being held on $1.5 million bail. He is to be arraigned on May 4 and KIRO 7 plans to be there.