On the evening of May 23, 2020, Christopher DeAndre Roberts, a 23-year-old male, was fatally shot in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The incident, which also resulted in the death of another man, took place outside a Safeway grocery store located at 9262 Rainier Avenue South. Roberts was pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds.
The shooting stemmed from an argument over a gang.
Witnesses reported that the gunman got into a verbal altercation with a group of people, which escalated tragically. During the dispute, the shooter pulled out a handgun and opened fire. Christopher Roberts and another man, Christopher Wilson, were struck by the gunfire. Tragically, prosecutors later revealed that neither Roberts nor Wilson were the intended targets of the shooting.
In the aftermath of the deadly shooting, an investigation led to the identification and arrest of a suspect. Tayjuan Fletcher, who was 18 years old at the time of the incident, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder. According to court documents and witness testimony, Fletcher was identified as the shooter. Witnesses picked him out of a photo lineup, with one being '110% sure' of his identity. Evidence also included Fletcher messaging one of the victim's friends on Facebook after the shooting.
In August 2024, a King County Superior Court jury found Tayjuan Fletcher guilty of two counts of murder in the second degree while armed with a firearm. The trial brought to light the senseless nature of the violence that claimed the lives of two men. Fletcher, a resident of Federal Way, is scheduled to be sentenced for the murders in November 2024.
