Munchbar shooter pleads not guilty


January 11, 2013 · 11:30 AM

Ja'Mari Jones, charged in a fatal Christmas Eve shooting at Bellevue's Munchbar, pled not guilty to second-degree murder, Thursday morning.

Jones, 19, is charged in the shooting death of DeShawn Milliken. Another Renton man was also seriously injured after at least five shots were fired into the crowded bar. More than 600 people were estimated to be at the venue, many of them celebrating the Seahawks victory the night before.

Jones is currently being held on a $5 million bail. If convicted, he could face 20 to 28 years in jail. That sentence comes after a juvenile conviction alongside two other teens, in the murder of Ed McMichael, better knows as Seattle's "Tuba Man."

Family and friends of Milliken were present for the hearing Thursday morning. Many wore shirts in his memory.

"[Milliken] was very close to his sister and his mother," said Scott O'Toole, senior deputy prosecutor with King County, "and to have that happen in such a horrific period of time, is devastating to the family."

 

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