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SEATTLE - Seattle police are seeking the identity of a suspect in a deadly house fire after the man initially arrested for the crime a month ago was found to be innocent.
The backstory:
The fatal fire happened on June 4 at a home on Sunnyside Avenue North in Wallingford. A 72-year-old woman later died from injuries sustained in the fire, which investigators say was deliberately set.
Several doorbell cameras in the area captured a dark-haired man before and after the arson, but they were not clear enough to positively identify a suspect, court documents stated.
Seattle police arrested a 25-year-old man in connection to the house fire about a month later. However, police confirmed on Monday that new information showed the man was innocent, and his charges have since been dropped.
The legal team for Letian Shi, the man originally arrested in the arson and murder, released the following statement:
"As we have maintained from the moment we began investigating Mr. Shi’s case, he is innocent. We share his family’s relief these charges have been dismissed and are so glad that our client is no longer wrongfully incarcerated. He should never have been arrested in the first place, and although his involvement in this tragedy is now rightfully over, the prosecution and police have compounded that tragedy by rushing to arrest and charge our client.
"Mr. Shi, Ms. Klee, their families, friends, and the entire community of Seattle deserved better from both police and prosecutors in this case. Time and time again, police ignored exculpatory evidence that would have kept an innocent man from spending a month behind bars for no reason. Prosecutors should have—and could have—demanded a more thorough investigation before filing life-altering charges with the potential to jeopardize Mr. Shi’s employment and his right to remain lawfully in the country he now calls home. We made the prosecution aware of this potential for harm from the outset of our involvement in this case, but they consistently demonstrated complete disregard for the risk of charging an innocent man.
"While he remains grounded in his gratitude for the support of his family and the community that has shown up for him throughout this unjustified prosecution, this experience has deeply wounded Mr. Shi. His lack of trust in the criminal legal system has robbed him of his sense of safety, haunted by the fear that he will be taken yet again from his community without reason. We hope that he is able to heal from this traumatic experience in time now that his freedom has been restored and he is once again surrounded by his loving family."
Seattle PD are now asking for the public's help in identifying the person responsible for the fatal house fire, as the real suspect remains at large and may still pose a danger.
Suspect arrested in deadly arson in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood
Seattle police arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with a house fire that killed a 72-year-old woman last month in the Wallingford neighborhood.
Anyone with information that could help police and prosecutors is asked to contact SPD’s Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000. You can remain anonymous.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Police Department, the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and a statement from the attorneys of Letian Shi.
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