Widower of pregnant woman who was shot to death in Seattle sues homelessness authority

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.

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.