King County prosecuting attorneys have charged a 16-year-old Auburn boy with the May 30 shooting death of 20-year-old Fabian Gonzalez in Auburn.

Jesus Castaneda-Peraza faces a charge of murder in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree.

Because of the severity of the offense, the King County Superior Court will try Castaneda-Peraza as an adult.

According to court documents, Castaneda-Peraza shot Gonzalez three times at the intersection of Cross Street Southeast and Auburn Way South prior to fleeing with his 17-year-old girlfriend to Portland, Oregon.

According to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, Gonzalez died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.

Prosecutors say Castaneda-Peraza pursued Gonzalez’s vehicle after tracking his girlfriend’s location and realizing she was spending time with another person.

Waiting in a parking lot near Auburn Way South for her vehicle to pass, he pulled alongside her vehicle and fired three shots through the passenger’s side window at “near point-blank range.”

The Auburn Police Department was dispatched to the scene at approximately 9:32 a.m after receiving reports of a shooting with the suspect fleeing southbound on Auburn Way South in a Chrysler.

A witness of the incident said they saw a girl exit the driver’s seat of the victim’s vehicle and jump in the passenger seat of the Chrysler directly after hearing gunshots, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

First responders attempted to perform medical intervention on Gonzalez at the scene. The Valley Regional Fire Authority pronounced him dead at 9:54 a.m.

Castaneda-Peraza and his girlfriend fled to Portland immediately following the shooting.

In text messages between Castaneda-Peraza and his family, he explained he shot and killed his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend and said “goodbye,” and that “he was not going to be able to see them for a while,” according to the affidavit.

The Gresham Police Department arrested Castaneda-Peraza the following morning, May 31, after locating both him and his girlfriend in the Chrysler outside of Portland’s city limits.

The Auburn Police Department authorized temporary felony arrest warrants for Castaneda-Peraza and his girlfriend to extradite them both back to Washington.

Prosecutors filed charges against Castaneda-Peraza on June 1.

Six months previously in December of 2022, the King County Superior Court convicted Castaneda-Peraza of two counts of robbery in the second degree and unlawful possession of firearms in the second degree. Castaneda-Peraza pleaded guilty as a juvenile offender to the charges and received a sentence of 60 days in detention.

Prosecutors requested the court to set Castaneda-Peraza’s bail at $3 million. According to prosecutorial documents, in the case of a conviction on murder in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, Castaneda-Peraza faces a standard range of 25 years and 11 months to 33 years and 11 months in prison.

The King County Superior Court will arraign Castaneda-Peraza on June 14 at 8:30 a.m. in the King County Courthouse.