Boy, 15, charged in Kent fatal shooting of 16-year-old girl

Published 9:35 am Friday, June 26, 2026

A 15-year-old boy faces a first-degree murder charge for allegedly shooting a 16-year-old girl June 3 in Kent while attempting to shoot a rival gang member.

The boy also faces four counts of first-degree assault for firing as many as eight shots at other teens near the girl at about 4:21 a.m. in the parking lot of the Aliso Apartments, 411 Alder Lane, according to charging documents filed June 24 by King County prosecutors.

Nyeruon Deng Biel died of a gunshot wound to the torso, according to a June 4 report by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled the death a homicide. The medical examiner reported Biel was found in a parking lot.

Prosecutors are asking a judge to allow criminal prosecution of the teen as an adult, according to a June 24 email from King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney.

“That determination will be made by a judge after hearing from prosecutors and defense, which is a process that typically takes several months,” McNerthney said. “When someone is charged with murder in the first degree as a 16- or 17-year-old in Washington state, that case moves to adult court without a hearing. When a respondent is age 15, that decision goes to a judge if prosecutors make the motion at the time the case is filed.”

The Kent Reporter is not naming the boy because he is a juvenile. If eventually charged as an adult, his name will be published.

Multiple officers responded June 3 to a 911 call of shots fired in the 400 block of Alder Lane, according to a Kent Police news release. The location is just east of Central Avenue South and west of the Green River in the far south end of town. Officers located Biel lying in a parking lot with visible injuries to her face and head, according to police, uncertain at the time that she had been shot. The officers performed lifesaving medical aid and were later assisted by medics, but Biel did not survive.

Officers interviewed six friends of Biel, all under the age of 18, who were at the scene, according to charging documents. They were visiting a friend at the Park Place Apartments, 1406 Maple Lane S., near the Aliso Apartments.

While the group was visiting, one of them contacted three juvenile males to meet them for a date. Prior to their arrival, two other males, including the accused 15-year-old, were hanging out with them in a rear parking lot. One of the males apparently is in a gang and that one of the males coming to meet the group was in a rival gang, according to a witness.

The three males arrived at about 4:15 a.m. and parked their red Ford Fusion in the parking lot of the nearby Aliso Apartments. As the friends walked toward the Fusion and met up with the males, a Tesla driving eastbound on Alder Lane came to a stop in the roadway across from the Fusion.

Witnesses then heard multiple gunshots and the group scattered and ran in different directions, according to charging papers. A friend saw Biel lying on the ground unresponsive and called 911 to report the shooting. Officers located video surveillance that captured the shooing with sound. Approximately eight gunshots could be heard after the Tesla pulled up and stopped.

A witness told detectives that the alleged 15-year-old shooter, one of the two males initially hanging out with the group, reportedly fired shots from a nearby elevated Green River levee and at the Fusion, according to charging documents.

A male from the Fusion, and the apparent target, fired two shots from a pistol in an unknown direction after the first shots were fired. Detectives recovered four 9mm cartridge casings next to the Green River Trail where the surveillance video showed the gunshots were fired. While eight shots were fired, just four casings were found due to the thick and dense foilage in the area.

Detectives were able to obtain the cell number of the 15-year-old boy and records showed his device hitting off a cellphone tower that covered the area of the Park Place Apartments on the date and time of the homicide, according to charging papers.

Arrest, more charges

Kent Police were conducting surveillance June 18 at the Taylor Creek Apartments, 7050 S. 116th Place in Seattle in an effort to locate the 15-year-old boy for a second-degree assault warrant unrelated to the June 3 incident.

Detectives knew based on the prior second-degree assault arrest warrant that the boy might be armed with a machine gun, according to charging documents. Detectives spotted the boy sitting on a third-story balcony of an apartment. A zoom lens reportedly showed the boy with tattoos that matched his known tattoos.

Valley SWAT was requested and surrounded the unit. The boy reportedly exited on his own, without any prompting from law enforcement and possibly unaware police were outside, and was placed under arrest for his warrant. He had a Glock Model 30 chambered in .45 caliber, in his waistband.

According to charging documents, the Glock was loaded with a 26-round extended magazine with a Glock switch that coverts the pistol into a fully automatic machine gun by allowing the gun to continuously fire with only one press of the trigger.

A review by detectives of the boy’s criminal history showed he had been convicted of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of second-degree unlawful firearm possession unlawful firearms and reckless endangerment.

After his arrest, prosecutors filed charges against the teen for first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a machine gun part, which are separate charges from the murder and assault charges.

Court updates

The court held an initial hearing June 25 on the state’s motion for decline of juvenile jurisdiction in its effort to move the teen’s murder case to adult court. The next court date is a status conference on Aug. 4, with a decline hearing set for Sept. 14.

In his second case, the teen pleaded not guilty to the first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of a machine gun part. His next court hearing is Aug. 4.

The teen is in custody at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center in Seattle.