In the quiet, pre-dawn hours of a Friday morning, the life of Angelito Lalon Maki, a 33-year-old man, was violently cut short by gunfire in a residential neighborhood of Burien, Washington. The attack, which also left a second man wounded, shattered the peace of the community and launched a homicide investigation that left loved ones and authorities searching for answers.
The fatal incident occurred on October 16, 2026.
At approximately 3:40 a.m., while most of the city south of Seattle was still dark and quiet, residents near the intersection of Southwest 130th Street and 2nd Avenue Southwest were startled by the sound of gunshots. Multiple calls were made to 911, and deputies from the Burien Police Department, which contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office for its law enforcement services, were dispatched to the scene. Upon their arrival, they discovered Angelito Maki outdoors. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the location.
As deputies began to secure the crime scene, the scope of the violence became clearer. A short time after finding Maki, an individual flagged down officers nearby and directed them to a second victim. This man had also been shot, but his injuries were determined to be non-life-threatening. He was quickly transported to a local hospital for medical care. Authorities did not immediately release the identity of the second man or elaborate on his connection to Maki or the circumstances that led to the shooting.
The investigation was quickly handed over to the King County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes detectives, the unit responsible for handling the most serious criminal cases in the county. They spent the morning canvassing the suburban neighborhood, a mix of single-family homes and small apartment buildings, searching for physical evidence and speaking with anyone who might have seen or heard something unusual. Several potential witnesses were interviewed in the immediate aftermath, but the initial phase of the investigation concluded without any arrests being made. Police did not release a description of any suspects or vehicles seen leaving the area.
A few days later, on Monday, October 19, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office formally identified the victim as Angelito Lalon Maki. Following an autopsy, the office confirmed that he died from multiple gunshot wounds and officially ruled his death a homicide. This ruling solidified the focus of the police inquiry as a murder investigation, dedicated to finding the person or people responsible for ending Angelito’s life.
The lack of a clear motive or suspect in the days following the shooting left a void of information. For the family and friends of Angelito Maki, the sudden and violent loss was compounded by the uncertainty of why he was targeted. For residents of the Burien community, the incident served as a jarring reminder of the potential for violence to erupt unexpectedly, disrupting the quiet rhythm of suburban life and leaving a lingering sense of unease.
As of late October 2026, the investigation into the murder of Angelito Maki remained active and ongoing. The King County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes detectives continued to pursue leads, but no significant breakthroughs or arrests had been publicly announced. The case remains unsolved, leaving a family to grieve and a community to hope for justice for a life taken too soon on a dark Friday morning.
