The teen who fired a gun during a fight in the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood in 2024 changed his plea to guilty at a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
The teen who fired a gun during a fight in the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood in 2024, killing a 13-year-old girl, changed his plea to guilty at a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Samuel Gizaw, 18, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder for the death of 13-year-old Jayda Woods-Johnson. Gizaw read a statement in court accepting responsibility for the shooting and apologizing to Woods-Johnson's family.
"I'm truly sorry for my actions, and I take full responsibility for what I did," he said. "I made such a horrible mistake at such a young age that affected so many people. I hope today’s guilty plea brings more closure to the family. I’m so sorry for what I did, I can’t even imagine what they go through every day.”
Gizaw, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, got into a fight with other teens near the food court of the Alderwood Mall on July 3, 2024.
During the dispute, Gizaw pulled out a gun and fired in the direction of other teen boys who were running away from him.
One of the bullets struck Woods-Johnson, who was standing nearby with a friend and not involved in the initial dispute in any way.
Despite life-saving efforts from bystanders, police, and paramedics, Woods-Johnson died from her injury.
Gizaw fled the mall and returned to his home in Mukilteo. His family later facilitated his surrender to police.
Investigators did not recover the handgun Gizaw used during the shooting.
Prosecutors initially charged Gizaw with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, assault, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
At first, Gizaw was released from custody on bail, but a judge increased the bail to $2 million, and he was placed into juvenile secure detention.
After Wednesday's hearing, Wood-Johnson's parents said they were ok with the plea agreement, though they would have preferred a conviction of first-degree murder.
"Him being a juvenile and being in Washington, it's kind of the best you are going to get," said Jeremy Johnson, the victim's father. "That's a step forward in the right direction."
Gizaw's defense attorney, Bryan Hershman, said while Gizaw is accepting responsibility for what he did, there are other teens who started the fight at the mall that are not facing consequences.
"He was not the first domino to push over to cause this problem," Hershman said after court.
Hershman noted surveillance video shows the other group of teens attack Gizaw before he responds by pulling out a gun and firing.
"We know who those kids are and apparently they're just going to walk away," Hershman said. "There were other people who were at fault who started this problem and who would have beat my client severely until they saw a gun pulled."
Gizaw's sentencing is scheduled for October 23rd. He faces a mandatory firearm enhancement which will add five years to his prison sentence. The range of prison time he faces is a minimum of approximately 15 years and a maximum of just over 23 years.
