Kent man faces murder charge in Renton shooting

Victim shot March 10 in parked car

A 21-year-old Kent man faces a first-degree murder charge for allegedly shooting a 21-year-old man on the afternoon of March 10 in a parked car at a oil change shop in Renton.

Oshea L. Williams remains at large. A no-bail arrest warrant has been issued for Williams, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Monday. Williams reportedly shot Jimm A. Route four times with wounds to his left shoulder, back and right arm, according to charging papers filed March 31 in King County Superior Court.

“The defendant (Williams) walked up and executed the victim while he was sitting in a parked car in a crowded business area at 1:40 in the afternoon,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jessica Berliner in the charging papers. “This defendant has a clear prosperity for violence and gun crimes that have now culminated in a premeditated murder.”

Berliner said Williams has a long history of gang affiliation, gun possession and committing violent crimes. He was convicted of second-degree robbery and taking a motor vehicle in 2014 in King County when in April 2014 he assaulted a female, broke her jaw and stole her car. He was convicted of second-degree robbery for a June 2014 incident when he and several accomplices robbed a man of his necklace. He also was convicted of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

He did time in the state Department of Corrections system but was released in June 2019.

In the Renton case, Renton Police responded to numerous 911 callers about a man shot while in a vehicle at the Formula-1 Fast Lube shop, 100 Rainier Ave. S. Officers found Route in the driver’s seat of a 2012 Ford Fiesta. He died at the scene.

Police collected video footage from a nearby business that showed the suspect walked directly up to the rear driver’s door of the Fiesta and fired several shots into the rear passenger window from several feet behind the car. The suspect then fled on foot. Additional video surveillance from other businesses showed the suspect picked up by a vehicle.

Detectives were able to identify the vehicle’s license plate and on March 11 pulled over a Chevrolet Caprice in the Skyway area near Renton. Video footage showed the Caprice passed the location of the shooting at least five times prior to the shooting.

Prosecutors charged J’von Marquis Kelly, 21, with first-degree rendering criminal assistance for allegedly driving the car that helped Williams flee the scene of the shooting. Kelly was booked March 11 into the county jail and released the next day on $10,000 bail, according to jail records.

Detectives obtained cellphone records from Kelly that reportedly included text messages on the day of the shooting. That includes a text Kelly sent just more than two hours after the shooting that read, “just dropped oshea off.”

Police tracked down video surveillance from a Chevron, 5148 Auburn Way N., in Auburn that reportedly showed Kelly filling up his car with gas just 28 minutes after the shooting and Williams exiting the passenger seat and walking into the store.

If law enforcement finds Williams, he has an arraignment hearing scheduled for April 13 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.