(KOMO) - When a car ran over and killed 39-year-old Brent DeArman in July 2025, his family was both devastated and anxious for answers about the case.The drive
When police responded to a hit-and-run crash in July 2025 on 7th Avenue SE in Everett, they located the body of 39-year-old Brent DeArman and quickly suspected he had been run over by a car and dragged to death.
Officers followed a blood trail that went more than a mile back to Casino Road.
Detectives set out to find the driver. Using Flock cameras and surveillance video from nearby homes and businesses, Everett police tracked down the driver who they allege killed DeArman. The 69-year-old man told them he thought he had hit a bag of trash - but police say the evidence suggested otherwise.
The crash had been recorded on the driver's own dash camera, according to an arrest report. Investigators say the video showed the car run over DeArman, who was crouched in the road for an unknown reason.
"While DeArman was illegally stopped and crouched in the roadway ... it didn't relieve (driver) of the obligation to drive safely," Everett police wrote in an arrest report. "(Driver) was required to be aware of his surroundings and avoid hazards in the roadway ... it was unreasonable that (driver) wouldn't see DeArman while he drove over 500 feet from the moment DeArman was visible on the dashcam to the moment of impact."
Police arrested the driver in September 2025 and booked him into the Snohomish County Jail on a felony charge of hit and run involving death. The arrest report says the video shows the man stopped the car where DeArman's body was found.
"Based on (driver's) actions, it was apparent he knew something substantial had happened," the arrest report states. "However, he continued south on 7th Ave SE after checking the Toyota for a couple of minutes."
The driver appeared in court the next day, but was released as prosecutors said they needed more time to determine if they would file the recommended felony charge against the man. His identity is being withheld pending formal charges.
"When he was arrested last September, I assumed, 'Okay, they're moving fast, this will be over soon, and we can begin to heal'," said Lori DeArman, the aunt of Brent DeArman. "The police were very good at keeping us very updated throughout the entire process - they called me when they were arresting him; they were very confident in their case."
But a year later, the case is still awaiting a review by prosecutors.
"The only response we get from them is emails of excuses, and only when we reach out to them," Lori DeArman said.
Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Jason Cummings says his office has "extremely limited staffing", meaning nonviolent felony cases are put in a queue that can stretch on for years.
“I’m not trying to paint a bleak picture, but it’s not a pretty picture," Cummings told KOMO News. "It’s a matter of lack of resources for being able to handle what we have out there. If you are a citizen in this county and you are the victim of a crime, you are going to be frustrated."
Cummings said his office has 61 deputy prosecuting attorneys, which matches the level of staffing the office had 20 years ago. With significant population growth in the county in that time, Cummings says the resources to prosecute felony crimes have not kept up.
Making matters worse, Cummings said he has been told to prepare for a 3% cut to his budget as the county faces growing financial pressure.
“The council and the executive need to know the system is going in the wrong direction," he said. "We need all hands on deck; it’s critical for us to be able to respond to citizens like this family.”
The Snohomish County Council recently passed a public safety sales tax increase to help pay for the increasing costs related to police, prosecutors, jail, courts, and public defense.
But even with the tax increase, Cummings believes his office will still lose staff. He would like to see caseload standards implemented for prosecutors similar to the cap that the Washington State Supreme Court imposed for public defenders last year.
Cummings estimates he would need an additional 36 prosecutors to match the caseload of public defenders in the county.
"The system is broken and needs to be repaired," he said.
For now, the office is referring some felony cases to other courts for misdemeanor filings, or the cases wait potentially years for filing reviews.
"We are always going to do our best to focus on crimes against persons - violent crimes, sex crimes, and that's where we will continue to apply our resources the best we can," he said. “I don’t want to make excuses by any stretch; I feel awful for what the family is going through, but with the limited resources we have, we have to apply them and get to some of the older cases.”
In the case of the prosecutor assigned to review DeArman's case, Cumming's office says she has 49 cases currently awaiting trial, including multiple murder and homicide cases.
Earlier this year, DeArman's family went to the Snohomish County Council to express their frustration with being told to continue to wait for an answer on whether the driver will be charged.
"It means that the man who killed my brother is still free, still driving, still living his life while we mourn the day that would be my brother's 40th birthday," said Shalan Brown, the sister of Brent DeArman. "It is an institutional failure. My brother's life deserved better than to be a line item on a docket."
