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Big 5 deadly shooting sentencing
The man found guilty of murder and assault for the 2024 shooting of a teenager outside a Renton sporting goods store, was sentenced to 208 months, plus a mandatory 60-month firearm enhancement for second-degree murder, along with 14 months plus a mandatory 36-month firearm enhancement for assault charges.
KING COUNTY - The man found guilty of murder and assault for the 2024 shooting of a teenager outside a Renton sporting goods store was sentenced Wednesday.
A judge sentenced 51-year-old Aaron Brown Myers to 208 months plus a 60-month firearm enhancement for second-degree murder, along with 14 months and a mandatory 36-month firearm enhancement for assault.
The base sentences (208 months and 14 months) run concurrently, meaning they are served at the same time. The firearm enhancements are mandatory and consecutive.
In all, the sentence adds up to more than 25 years in prison.
The court denied the defense's request for an exceptional sentence below the standard range based on Myers's PTSD diagnosis and character letters.
Myers claimed he was attempting to prevent a robbery, but surveillance footage revealed the teenagers put up their hands and dropped an airsoft gun before Myers fired multiple shots.
Man found guilty of murder, assault in shooting outside Big 5 in Renton, WA
A jury found Aaron Brown Myers, 51, guilty of murder and assault for the 2024 shooting of a teenager outside a Renton sporting goods store.
The backstory:
Myers confronted three teenagers outside a Big 5 Sporting Goods store at the Renton Village Shopping Center in June 2024.
Myers told detectives he believed the teens were about to commit an armed robbery and felt he had a "duty to act" to protect his son, who was at a nearby gym. However, court documents reveal the weapon the 17-year-old victim, Hazrat Ali Rohani, carried was an airsoft gun.
While the teens initially put their hands up and dropped the airsoft gun, Myers fired multiple times, eventually standing over Rohani and continuing to shoot as he lay on the ground.
The incident occurred while Myers was waiting to pick up his 13-year-old son from a jiu-jitsu class.
Although Myers was an armed security guard, he was not employed to protect that shopping center.
In Washington, a citizen's arrest is only permitted if a person actually sees a crime being committed. Private citizens do not have the legal authority to detain people based solely on the belief that a crime might happen in the future.
During the investigation, Myers told detectives he didn't have time to call 911 because he needed to stop the individuals from hurting someone. One of the teens was heard on surveillance shouting, "what the f---, man?" while backing away with his hands in the air before the shots were fired.
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The Source: Information in this story came from a live court sentencing featured on FOX 13 Seattle's FOX LOCAL Live Desk. Information in the story featured above and background information came from a social media post by Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders and original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.