Kent teen accused of shooting in altercation about hair pick

A 16-year-old Kent teen has been charged as an adult with first-degree assault with a firearm for allegedly shooting another teen in the chest last week over a hair pick, according to King County prosecutors.

Diontae Moore-Lyons was accompanied by his father and other family members when he turned himself in to Kent police the morning after the Feb. 12 shooting, which happened in the parking lot of a McDonald’s at 101st Avenue Southeast and 256th Street, charging papers say.

He was transferred from the Youth Services Center to the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent on Wednesday night, after prosecutors filed charges in adult, superior court, with bail set at $250,000, court and jail records say.

Moore-Lyons bumped into the 17-year-old victim’s girlfriend at Westfield Southcenter mall in Tukwila on Feb. 11, and she agreed to give him a ride back to Kent, charging papers say, noting the three teens attended Kent Phoenix Academy together.

The next day, she began receiving calls threatening her with physical violence “if she didn’t return Moore-Lyons’ property, specifically a hair pick that had been left in her car,” say the charges.

The 17-year-old, his girlfriend and a couple of friends agreed to meet Moore-Lyons at the McDonald’s, the charges say. The couple told Moore-Lyons they didn’t have his hair pick, and he and the 17-year-old argued before Moore-Lyons pulled a gun, charging papers say.

The 17-year-old was shot once in the chest but survived following surgery, the papers say.

He later told a detective he “believed Moore-Lyons shot him because the two males he was with that night were believed to be in a gang, and Moore-Lyons was trying to impress them,” say the charges.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 5:41 AM with the headline "Kent teen accused of shooting in altercation about hair pick."