Elevator confrontation over dog led to gunfire. Tacoma man charged with murder
On Tuesday morning, two men got into a heated exchange in an elevator at an apartment complex in the Hilltop neighborhood.
A few minutes later, one of them was dead.
The other, 32-year-old Seth Asis Medina, made an appearance in Pierce County Superior Court on Wednesday. He is accused of shooting and killing the other man in the 800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
Medina was charged with second-degree murder.
According to court documents, the incident started when the victim was in the elevator with his two dogs. Medina allegedly stepped into the elevator, blocking the victim’s exit, and the two got into an altercation. The victim raised a pepper ball gun at Medina, the documents say, and Medina shot the victim once with a pistol.
Court documents say the victim was born in 1971, meaning he was 54 or 55 years old.
Court commissioner Barbara McInvaille entered a plea for not guilty on Medina’s behalf and set bail at $25,000. If released, Medina would have to wear an electronic GPS and show up to all of his court hearings.
What happened at the arraignment?
Deputy prosecuting attorney Lisa Wagner asked McInvaille to set Medina’s bail at $1 million.
“The video of this incident shows this defendant was the first aggressor, and the victim was trying to stay away from the defendant,” Wagner said. “...Community safety would be the basis for the state’s request.”
Jeffrey Kim, an attorney from Pierce County’s Department of Assigned Counsel, asked McInvaille to release Medina without bail.
“I don’t know that the possibility of self-defense may come up at this point, and I think that is obviously not being argued today or being asserted at his defense, but just by read of the probable cause declaration, I think that’s kind of a clear and obvious potential issue,” Kim said.
Kim also said Medina is struggling with a health issue, saying he is experiencing kidney failure and needs to go to a medical appointment later this week.
“I would ask the court to consider releasing him on his own recognizance,” Kim said. “If the court is concerned, he is open to monitoring as long as he is able to go to work.”
McInvaille said, “The concern [is] the allegations,” and set bail at $25,000. She ordered Medina to wear an electronic GPS tracker, which would allow him to travel between his home, his work and his medical appointments.
She also appointed a defense attorney for Medina.
“If you miss calls with him, if you miss hearings here, if you have violations of your monitor conditions, then you will be back here, and I will re-assess bail,” McInvaille said. “It’s not a way to just go around and come and go as you please.”
What happened on Tuesday?
According to charging documents, the incident happened at about 11:11 a.m. The victim was standing in the elevator with his two dogs, while Medina allegedly approached from the hallway as the door started to close.
Medina stood in the entrance of the elevator, the documents said, preventing the other man from leaving. Medina’s pitbull was in between his legs, partly in the lobby and partly in the hallway.
“The two can be seen exchanging words, and the defendant can be seen gesturing with his right hand. The defendant then got onto the elevator, again, preventing the victim from exiting,” documents say. “It was at that moment the victim raised the Byrna gun and held it up and pointed it at the defendant.”
The victim allegedly raised his left hand and tried to push past Medina to leave the elevator. Documents say Medina backed up, then reached into his waistband, pulled out a pistol and shot the victim one time as the victim tried to move into the hallway.
Medina had a concealed permit license from the Kent Police Department, documents say. Surveillance video shows the victim never discharged his weapon.
After the shooting, documents say, Medina called 911 and said he had been “attacked in the lobby” and “might have hit someone.” He then went into the building’s parking lot and moved to an alley, where police contacted him.
“At no time on video did Medina attempt to render aid to the victim,” the documents say.
Medina was booked into Pierce County Jail at about 1:08 p.m., according to jail records.
Detectives interviewed the apartment manager and the building maintenance manager, who allegedly said there had been issues in the past between the two men, “mostly over the aggressiveness of [Medina’s] dog.”
“These incidents prompted [the victim] to buy the pepper ball gun with management’s assistance,” documents say.
Documents also say Medina had made threats to other people. At one point, someone allegedly confronted Medina and “asked him not to treat his dog in that manner.”
Medina’s alleged response?
“Mind your own (expletive) business. Next time I see you, I got something for you. I’ll pop you.”
