Kent Police Chief reports 17 homicides so far in 2023, up from 9 total last year

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla presented a Public Safety Crime Report to City Council on July 18, stating 17 people were killed this year, up from nine people total in 2022.

KENT, Wash. - Just seven months into 2023 and the city of Kent is already seeing nearly double the number of homicides from last year.

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla presented a Public Safety Crime Report to City Council on July 18, stating 17 people were killed this year, up from nine people total in 2022.

Early Thursday morning, officers responded to a shooting in the city. A woman was shot in the head and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police are looking for four suspects.

The chief explained there were 17 murders from 13 separate incidents. Two of the deaths were not criminal incidents and were officer-involved. He said one case, involving the death of a 4-month-old baby, was investigated as child neglect, though it was not a violent death.

Two of the incidents were double homicides, including the death of Sharmayne Jackson.

"I’m going to let them know who she was and what they took from us," said Michelle McKnight, Sharmayne’s mother.

Sharmayne, who was visiting from Alaska, and Sean Peoples were both killed at a motel in January. The suspected killers from California were arrested and charged.

The fight for justice is just beginning for McKnight, who lost her only daughter.

"I feel that she needs to be heard and represented. And not even her, for her friend as well," said McKnight. "I’m going to speak up for both families if I have to. But definitely her children. They don’t deserve to grow up and not have a mom and only get to have memories of her. None of us deserve that."

Padilla said arrests or charges have been filed in nine of the deadly cases so far this year. He said he is "confident" in the "strong" leads detectives are investigating in other cases.

He explained more than half of the murders are driven by drug dealing and fights over drugs.

"Aside from the number of people that are just from overdoses in our state and our county, which is really high, drugs do have an impact on crime. They drive a lot of crime. The consumption of the drugs feeds a need to have money to sustain the usage, which drives people to commit crime," said Padilla.

The police chief noted several of the victims and suspects involved in the murders were not from Kent, which he said brings attention to how staffing shortages in law enforcement across Washington affects public safety in his city.

"Why does it matter what the rest of the state looks like? Well, crime is regional. Suspects don’t recognize city boundaries, they travel, they’re transient. And so, if our partnering agencies are suffering because they don’t have enough police officers hired, all of us suffer. It really is something I hope we can get attention to at a state level," said Padilla.

Kent Police Department has filled almost every open officer position allotted within the city budget. Padilla said he recognizes Kent is unique in having a near-full staff.

The chief told city council that he anticipates ramping up enforcement when the state’s new pursuit laws begin in August. He said he believes the new law would make an impact on the amount of violent crime in the city.

Kent Crime and Public Safety