On a Friday evening, March 10, 2017, the life of 18-year-old Donovan Spann, a male high school senior from Burien, was tragically cut short in what was described as a shooting incident in the White Center area. The event unfolded at a house where his 17-year-old friend, Liam Carter, was house-sitting. The homeowner, concerned about a recent burglary, had left a.
38 caliber revolver with Carter for protection.
That afternoon, after picking Spann up from school, the two longtime friends went to the house. They began smoking marijuana and playing with the handgun. The situation took a fatal turn when, according to Carter's account to detectives, the two decided to play a game of Russian roulette. Carter stated that after Spann took a turn pointing the gun at him and pulling the trigger on an empty chamber, it was his turn. Believing the bullet was not in the next position, he pointed the weapon in Spann's direction and fired, striking his friend in the abdomen.
In the immediate aftermath, a panicked Carter called 911, initially claiming the gun had accidentally fallen and discharged. While on the phone with the dispatcher, who was providing instructions for CPR, Carter confessed to detectives that he paused life-saving efforts to stage the scene to support his initial story. He reloaded the gun and placed it to look as though it had fallen off a table. When deputies and medics arrived at the home in the 10200 block of 23rd Court Southwest, they found Spann deceased from the gunshot wound.
Liam Carter was arrested and booked into the King County Youth Services Center for investigation of first-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors later charged the 17-year-old as an adult. While the official account pointed to a reckless game, Donovan Spann's family expressed doubt that he would have participated in Russian roulette, though they also stated they did not believe his friend would have intentionally harmed him. The tragic incident left a community mourning the loss of a young man who was on the verge of graduating from New Starts alternative high school.
