Seattle, WA
Seattle’s first homicide of 2026 is a case that began more than 50 years ago
SEATTLE – In 1973, a 19-year-old man was shot near Garfield High School, a tragedy that left him paralyzed for the rest of his life. The medical examiner has now officially ruled his recent death a homicide — a rare “delayed death” directly linked to those decades-old injuries.
Prosecutors say the case is legally closed because the suspects are now dead. Still, it raises a question: What happens to cases that don’t end with an arrest?
Local perspective:
Detective Rolf Norton has dedicated his career to finding answers in cases many assume are over. Norton refuses to call them “cold cases.” He insists they are not forgotten or “sitting on the shelf collecting dust.”
For Norton, they are not over — just unfinished.
Norton has been with Seattle police for 31 years, including the past 24 in homicide.
What they’re saying:
“There is no greater mission working homicides is what I wanted to do when I first got hired,” Norton said.
Waking up every day, he said, is easy. The challenge, fulfillment, significance and importance are why he doesn’t hesitate when he talks about murder investigations.
“There is no other crime that comes to the level of homicide. It’s the Fifth Commandment; it’s the foundation of society. It begins and ends with ‘We won’t kill each other,’ and to be tasked with investigating those crimes is really a great honor,” Norton said.
A Seattle native and graduate of the University of Washington, Norton worked as a legal assistant for the King County Prosecutor’s Office before being hired by Seattle police in 1994, when the city had about 500,000 residents.
“Flash me back to 1994 — I take a look, and then take the blindfold off. In 2026, I’ll look around, and I won’t recognize it,” Norton said.
Policing has changed, too — no body cameras then, no doorbell cameras, and certainly no security footage on every block.
“If the Green River Killer had been active in 2026 instead of 1983, we would have had him after number one or number two, because we would have had him on camera,” Norton said, referring to the serial killer who terrorized the region in the 1980s.
Dig deeper:
DNA technology has also evolved dramatically over the past two decades, from limited testing in the late 1990s to breakthroughs in genetic genealogy that help identify suspects decades later.
“In the past, it’s been more about, ‘We have this result. What can we do with it? How can we interpret it? How can we make it better?’ Now it’s — we go back to the start, starting from scratch. It’s crazy, and I’m excited with the optimism that all this brings,” Norton said.
Even with new tools, not every case has an ending.
“I’m on a one-person mission to change the vernacular. I can’t stand the word ‘cold case,’” Norton said. “I don’t call them cold cases because I’m working them.”
He says they are not binders that have sat untouched for decades at the bottom of a vault.
“If you walked into my office, I probably have 100 case files, and they’re all piled up in a very organized manner for me,” Norton said.
These are not just files — they are the names of someone’s loved one. Norton says he takes them home mentally and, at times, physically.
“There’s been some cases where I’ve printed out the original follow-up that the initial detectives produced, and have left them at every sleeping area in my house, and sometimes just pick it up and start reading saying, ‘What did I miss?’” Norton said.
Why you should care:
One of the cases he has carried for a decade is the killing of 14-year-old Tanya Frazier, who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered in 1994. An arrest was finally made last year, more than 30 years later.
“I’m pleased we got to where we are today, that we have made an arrest, but the process isn’t done,” Norton said.
Another case is “Baby Boy Doe,” found dead in November 1997 in a north Seattle gas station trash can after his mother delivered him and left him to die. Despite police sharing images of the mother walking toward the restroom, the case remained unsolved for years.
“I come to the photos of Baby Doe in a garbage can and it’s mind-blowing. Frankly, it’s life-changing, you see something that you immediately want to file away and never go back to, but you can’t because you have a job, a mission, and no one is looking out for baby doe, except for us,” Norton said, describing the crime scene photos publicly for the first time.
The mother, Christine Warren, was convicted in January 2023, but for years many believed the case would never be solved.
“It’s important to know that this child wasn’t forgotten,” said Casey McNerthney of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
McNerthney said the same goes for the case of Joseph Garrett, even though it cannot be prosecuted.
Garrett was 19 when, according to a brief three-paragraph article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, he was shot in the shoulder during a fight with another teen near Garfield High School. The bullet lodged in his spine, paralyzing him.
“It’s encouraging to see that Ralph Norton would see how police was on top of this one,” McNerthney said. “Many of the cases that people assume aren’t being looked at are actually on his desk.”
He also offered a warning.
“If somebody thinks they’ve gotten away with it because it’s a few years, or even a few decades in the past, they’re wrong. If you never know when that knock on the door will come, and at some point it will come,” McNerthney said.
For families, he added, time feels different.
“We know that for the surviving family members in these cases, every day is like the day they found out,” McNerthney said.
Norton acknowledges that being the face of that pain is not easy.
“You’re the face of the worst thing that ever happened to them and the family members, and you don’t always have good news,” Norton said.
When asked how he moves forward in each case knowing many remain unsolved for families, Norton said, “I think you need to focus on the process and not the result, and you need to be cognizant of what you can address today.”
The odds are not always in his favor.
“It’s tough. These cases are unsolved not because of a lack of effort. They’re unsolved because they’re difficult,” Norton said.
When asked what he would say to families still waiting for answers, Norton did not pause.
“I remember, we remember, I won’t quit. We won’t quit,” Norton said.
Norton has reviewed more than 600 unsolved cases dating from 1907 to 2020. During a recent interview, he shared a list of 13 names — cases for which he is the lead detective and continues to update families.
He is waiting for DNA technology to keep improving, hoping it will one day give families closure. While he does not promise resolutions, he wants families to know their loved ones are not far from his reach.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Alejandra Guzman.
SEATTLE – The husband of a pregnant woman killed in a random 2023 downtown Seattle shooting has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
The complaint alleges the agency failed to act on clear warning signs exhibited by the suspect, Cordell Goosby, before he opened fire on the family.
Cordell Goosby in the foreground with the crime scene, including the white Tesla the couple were shot in, in the background
King County prosecutors say Goosby shot a married couple sitting in their car on 4th Street in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood on June 13, 2023. It resulted in the death of 34-year-old Eina Kwon, who was 32 weeks pregnant at the time. Her husband, Sung Kwon, was also injured in the shooting.
Goosby was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for the act, but he was found not guilty by reason of insanity this year.
The lawsuit, filed by Kwon and his attorneys, claims that Goosby was being supported by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and was provided with other services leading up to the shooting.
In the weeks leading up to the attack, Goosby allegedly told his case worker that he was hearing voices, experiencing paranoia, and thinking of conducting drive-by shootings. The complaint alleges Goosby’s case worker was repeatedly ignored by the agency’s supervisors when bringing up Goosby’s declining mental state.
An employee responsible for initiating psychiatric holds reportedly declined to see Goosby after he texted his case worker he needed to leave Seattle fast before he hurt someone, saying he would get to it in two days. The next day, Goosby carried out the shooting.
What they’re saying:
My wife and daughter should still be here. My family will never be whole again, and every day I think about the life we were supposed to have together. I am bringing this case forward because the people who were supposed to help this man looked away when it mattered most. I don’t want another family to experience the unimaginable loss that I am left with,” said Sung Kwon.
“KCRHA knew their program participant, Mr. Goosby, was in crisis. He asked them for help. He told them, over and over, that he was hearing voices and thinking about shooting people. He was threatening KCRHA employees. The warning signs could not have been more clear. Instead of getting him help or alerting law enforcement, KCRHA told its own staff to wait it out, and discouraged others from contacting police, as well. Eina and Evelyn Kwon paid for that delay with their lives,” said Julie Kline, the Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorney representing the Kwon family.
What’s next:
The lawsuit seeks damages for wrongful death, the death of a child, and personal injury to be determined at a future trial.
FOX 13 Seattle has reached out to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority about the lawsuit and is waiting to hear back.
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The Source: Information in this story came from a press release from Seattle-based law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, a complaint filed in King County Superior Court by Sung Kwon, and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
SEATTLE — The widower of Eina Kwon, a pregnant woman who was gunned down while sitting in traffic in downtown Seattle, has filed a lawsuit against the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, alleging the agency knew of escalating and threatening behavior by the gunman in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
Cordell Goosby shot Kwon and her husband, Sung Kwon, at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street in June 2023.
Seattle Police Department officers are seen investigating the shooting in Belltown near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street on June 13, 2023. (KOMO News)
Earlier this year, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Video showed the shooting was completely random as Goosby walked up the Kwon’s car at a turn light and opened fire. Eina Kwon and her baby were killed, while Sung Kwon was shot and survived his injuries.
RELATED | Belltown restaurant reopens months after shooting death of pregnant owner Eina Kwon
The case sparked a severe backlash about the dangerous conditions on the streets of downtown Seattle during a year that set a record for homicides in the city.
According to Sung Kwon’s lawsuit, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) knew Goosby was growing delusional and violent prior to the shooting, including the day prior, when the agency declined to screen him immediately for psychiatric admission.
Weeks of escalating behavior
The lawsuit brings to light many allegations about Goosby’s interactions with KCRHA workers in the weeks before he attacked the Kwon family.
A photo showing{ }Cordell Goosby being arrested in Belltown on June 13, 2023, following a shooting that killed Eina Kwon. (KOMO)
In April 2023, the complaint says KCRHA staff started receiving complaints about Goosby’s behavior at his county-funded apartment on 1st Avenue West in Seattle. The lawsuit alleges neighbors told KCRHA staff about an overwhelming odor of marijuana and noise coming from Goosby’s apartment, the lawsuit alleges.
By June 2023, those complaints had escalated into reports of Goosby fighting strangers, displaying aggressive behavior, and talking about shooting people.
The day before shooting the Kwons, a KCRHA case worker notified her supervisors that Goosby had told her he needed to “leave Seattle fast before he hurts someone,” the lawsuit claims.
Goosby also apparently claimed people were in his vents talking to him and he was being “gang stalked”
“(KCRHA case worker) sought out (KCRHA supervisor), whom she understood to be the point person for initiating an evaluation by a Designated Crisis Responder for involuntary psychiatric admission,” the lawsuit states. “(Supervisor) declined to see Mr. Goosby that day, telling (case worker) he would get to it on Wednesday.”
Day before the random attack on the Kwon family
On June 12, 2023, Goosby confronted a property manager at his apartment complex while screaming, saying he hadn’t eaten in days and was being antagonized by neighbors.
The lawsuit claims the property manager called a KCRHA supervisor, who then discouraged the manager from calling police and assured him, “Goosby was not dangerous.”
A photo of Goosby’s county-funded apartment. (KOMO)
“By the end of the day on Monday, June 12, 2023, KCRHA had taken no steps to help Mr. Goosby or intervene in any way and did not notify law enforcement of Mr. Goosby’s threats to hurt (case worker) and others,” the lawsuit states.
But after talking with the KCRHA staff, the apartment manager called Seattle police and reported Goosby was in crisis.
According to an SPD case note included in the lawsuit, the apartment manager said Goozby was enraged about claims that people were talking to him all day and night, and said “if they don’t stop, you know what’s going to happen.”
The police report notes KCRHA staff had been notified, and the officer advised the apartment manager to call back “if (Goosby) ever seemed on the edge of committing a violent act.”
4th and Lenora Shooting
At 11:00 a.m. on June 13, 2023, the Kwon family was in their Tesla driving to their Belltown restaurant when they stopped for a turn light at 4th Avenue and Lenora Street in downtown Seattle.
Armed with a stolen gun, Goosby ran up their car at random and started firing through the glass.
Eina Kwon was shot in the head and check and did not have a heartbeat when paramedics arrived. She was rushed into surgery at Harborview Medical Center, but she and her 32-week old baby both died.
Flowers sit at Lenora Street and 4th Avenue on Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood to honor Eina Kwon. (KOMO News)
Sung Kwon was shot in the arm and treated for his injuries.
Goosby surrendered to Seattle police immediately after the shooting. He was charged with murder in the first degree and went through multiple competency evaluations until being deemed not guilty by reason of insanity this spring.
Why family says KCRHA is responsible
Lawyers for Sung Kwon allege KCRHA had a “duty to exercise reasonable care” to prevent Goosby from harming the Kwon family.
“Mr. Goosby was a KCRHA program participant and KCRHA undertook to provide him with housing and case management services,” the lawsuit states. “KCRHA failed to implement or enforce policies and procedures for supervising and responding to program participants who pose a danger to others. KCRHA failed to adequately hire, train, and supervise personnel to handle program participants who pose a danger to others. It failed to provide guidance, protection, or support to personnel, so they were enabled, empowered, or equipped to take reasonable steps to address program participants who pose a danger.”
The suit claims KCRHA staff asked with reckless disregard of the safety, and sought to prevent others from contacting law enforcement about Goosby’s threatening behavior.
“KCRHA was negligent in its failure to take reasonable care as it related to its knowledge of Mr. Goosby’s mental state and behavior thereby creating, combining with, or increasing the foreseeable risk of improper conduct of Mr. Goosby, which KCRHA knew caused a foreseeable risk of injury to others,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint does not list a specific dollar amount, but seeks for damages to be determined at trial.
SEATTLE — A man accused of stealing copper wire from the West Seattle Bridge is wanted after prosecutors say he failed to show up in court this week, prompting a warrant for his arrest.
New police body camera video shows an officer arresting the man, who had bundles of copper wire in his arms.
Seattle police arrested Gregory Wayne Galitzeck after prosecutors say he was caught stealing copper wire from the bridge in the middle of the night.
Court documents say Galitzeck had four 100-foot coils of stolen copper wire, causing about $100,000 in damage that Seattle City Light customers will have to pay to repair.
Prosecutors say that when he was caught, Galitzeck claimed to be a Seattle City Light employee.
People in West Seattle called the alleged theft shocking, but not surprising.
“I feel like we live in an alternate timeline now anyway, so nothings really surprising to me,” said Lisa Coronado, who lives in West Seattle.
The case comes amid a string of similar crimes. This was the second copper wire theft along the West Seattle Bridge in just weeks. Similar thefts have also hit agencies such as Sound Transit, with thieves selling copper wire for cash.
Galitzeck is charged with theft and impersonating a City Light worker. He was supposed to come to court this week to answer the charges but did not appear. A $5,000 warrant has been issued for his arrest.
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King County prosecutors are again pushing for a new law that would require recyclers to upload photos of purchased copper to a database, a step intended to help investigators track stolen metal.
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