Two men have been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the shooting death of a 67-year-old woman outside the Tukwila Costco.
On Jan. 26, police say Illyiss Mohamud Abdi, 18, and Salman S. Haji, 19, attacked Mingyuan Huang and her sister as they loaded groceries into their car.
Charging documents say Haji struggled to get Huang’s sister’s purse, and when Huang leaned over from the passenger seat to help her, Haji hit and pistol-whipped Huang’s sister and then shot Huang in the chest.
The documents also say Abdi may be linked to the fatal shooting of a teenager in his car in Kent in February. Abdi was arrested in May and charged with assault in that case.
The second suspect in Huang’s murder, Haji, fled the country in late January and is still missing, the documents say.
At the time of the shooting, KIRO 7 spoke with customers outside the warehouse as they shared their concerns about safety.
“It’s worrying to know because it was in the Costco parking lot with a lot of people around. For someone to be so bold is pretty crazy. Hopefully they will catch him quickly because for someone so bold running around is very dangerous,” said Costco customer Alex Simpson.
Documents say that before the fatal shooting, the men stole a white Porsche SUV from a woman in Seattle at gunpoint, then the two drove together to Costco and drove off in the same SUV after murdering Huang.
Detectives say Abdi and Haji’s fingerprints were found inside the Porsche.
In addition to first-degree murder, the two men are accused of first-degree robbery and attempted robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and trying to escape from a police vehicle that was pursuing them.
The court is asking for $5 million bail for each suspect.
Arraignment is scheduled for June 5 at the Kent Regional Justice Center.
