Mother of National Guard officer killed in Fife says murder suspect has ‘zero remorse’
A man who was arrested Thursday in the killing of a National Guard officer in September entered his plea Friday for the alleged crime.
In November, prosecutors charged Andrew Lautogia Fonoti, 29, with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, drive-by shooting, unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records.
Fonoti is accused of killing 23-year-old Rudolph King III on Sept. 12 in a drive-by shooting. King was shot in the head when he was driving and immediately killed. The shooting sent his car off the road and into a lamppost, according to charging documents.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Fonoti’s behalf during his arraignment Friday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court. King’s family sat in the courtroom gallery. His mother, Kristin King, who was holding a photo of her son, asked the court to set the “highest possible bail.”
“He took my son’s life on Sept. 12. Since then he’s been bragging about it, shows zero remorse. He’s been terrorizing the streets of the community, including law enforcement for over three months,” she said. “And it just would be in everyone’s best interest to keep him locked up to prevent him from doing any further crimes and causing anyone the type of pain that my family is going through, or to take anyone else’s family member away.”
Superior Court judge Garold Johnson set Fonoti’s bail at $1.5 million.
Charging documents
King’s death was initially reported as a car crash near the intersection of 70th Avenue East and 20th Street East. At 9:32 p.m., Fife police were dispatched and found King with a single gunshot wound to the head. King was an active-duty National Guard officer at the time of the shooting, charging documents show.
King was reportedly on the phone with his parents when the shooting occurred. His parents reported to police that they did not hear any yelling or other indicators that would have showed that King was involved in an altercation prior to the shooting. King’s mother said the phone just “went dead” and when she called back, there was no response. His parents received a notification from King’s Apple watch, which indicated he was in a collision, prosecutors wrote.
King was driving a black Hyundai sedan at the time. Witnesses said his car was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash.
Through video footage, detectives noted that King was likely shot near the 6600 block of 20th street and his car continued driving since his foot was on the gas pedal. Detectives also saw a 2013 Toyota Camry driving nearby, and it was later determined to be the suspect’s vehicle. The Camry was reportedly stolen, and it was recovered a few days later, prosecutors wrote.
The Toyota Camry had bullet holes in the windshield. Two live .22-caliber rounds and one live 9 mm round were found in the driver’s door pocket. There was also graffiti written on the steering wheel with the name “Drewsky” on it. It was later discovered that this was one of Fonoti’s nicknames, prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors wrote it was determined that Fonoti was a passenger in the stolen Camry, along with a teenager, identified in charging papers at J.T., and a 14-year-old boy. Detectives interviewed a witness in late September who knew one of the juveniles and Fonoti. The witness said Fonoti allegedly admitted he was the one who fired the shot that killed King.
Another witness told detectives that when they heard that King died, they confronted J.T. and Fonoti about it. They both allegedly told the witness what happened and that Fonoti shot King, prosecutors wrote.
Another witness who knew the suspects reported to detectives that after the homicide, Fonoti and the juveniles went to their apartment building. The witness saw Fonoti get out of the car, and he “was all excited he just shot a gun, and that he hit that person,” prosecutors wrote.
A Crimestoppers bulletin was issued on Nov. 22 announcing that Fonoti was wanted for King’s killing. On Thursday, Fonoti was discovered at a hotel in Kent. The Pierce County Metro Cities SWAT Team tried to take Fonoti into custody, and one of the members fired shots. Fonoti was then taken into custody, according to the Fife Police Department.
A gun that was used in the shooting has not been recovered. Fonoti is listed as a suspect in other incidents, and additional charges might be filed in a separate case. Fonoti has felony convictions from March 2023 for theft of a motor vehicle and attempting to elude, prosecutors wrote.
Following the arraignment, King’s father, Rudolph King Jr., said he wanted to give a special thank you to the Fife Police Department that “gave their everything.”
“They told me that they personally would not stop until they caught Mr. Fonoti, and they proved it to us. And we were one of the first people to get the call when he got into custody,” he said.
