Teen pleads not guilty in killing of WA 10-year-old girl

Teen pleads not guilty to girl's murder amid assault charges

A teenager is facing charges following a drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of a 10-year-old girl, who was struck by a stray bullet inside her Skyway apartment.

KING COUNTY, Wash. - A teenager accused of killing a 10-year-old girl at a Skyway apartment complex in May pleaded not guilty to murder and three counts of assault with a firearm on Monday.

Prosecutors previously asked the courts for 16-year-old Derreon Johnson to be held in secure detention for a Dec. 2023 case, in which he was charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree motor vehicle theft. Johnson pleaded not guilty then and was out on electronic home monitoring at the time of the shooting. He now faces charges in three ongoing cases.

Johnson is accused of firing 16 shots at the Creston Point Apartments in Skyway, one of which allegedly struck a young girl while she was asleep. Deputies found the girl in bed with a gunshot wound to the head. She died two days later at the hospital.

During Monday’s court appearance, Johnson’s attorney argued that there is uncertainty about who fired the fatal shots. "People that were present identified him later." His defense argued there was surveillance video, yet it showed multiple people, so they were uncertain who the shooter was.

"There is a question as to who fired the shots in this case," the defense attorney stated.

Investigators reported multiple bullet holes in the girl's bedroom, where she was sleeping with her three- and five-year-old siblings. The shooting allegedly targeted three teens in a car who had stopped by the apartment complex to buy marijuana.

Johnson’s attorney entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. Johnson is also being charged for another shooting at the complex which reportedly occurred a month after the deadly tragedy.

Court documents say witnesses claim Johnson bragged about hitting a "little girl" following the incident.

Johnson is being held on $2 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court again at the end of September.