A 20-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a woman in the parking lot of a Costco store in Tukwila, Washington, has been arrested in Kenya.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, Salman Haji was extradited back to the United States to face justice following his arrest by the FBI.
Haji is now being held in King County Jail in Seattle, where his bail has been set at $5 million (ksh640 million).
Haji and his accomplice, Ilyiss Mohamud Abdi, first charges of murder, robbery, and attempted robbery, all in the first degree.
According to prosecutors, Haji shot and killed 67-year-old, Yuam Ming, while trying to steal her sister’s purse as the pair was loading groceries into their car.
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That morning, Haji and Abdi had first carjacked a Porsche SUV at gunpoint in Seattle, later using the victim’s credit card to buy gift cards at a QFC in Normandy Park.
At 10:38 AM, the surveillance timeline showed the stolen Porsche pulling into the Costco parking lot.
Abdi was driving and Haji was in the passenger seat when they passed Ming and her sister.
Haji then exited the SUV, attempted to snatch the sister’s purse, and in the ensuing struggle shot Ming in the chest, killing her, before fleeing the scene.
Abdi, identified as the getaway driver, remains in King County Jail on $6 million bail.
He has pleaded not guilty, and a court appearance is scheduled for August.
This comes months after Kevin Kang’ethe, a Kenyan national accused of brutally murdering his girlfriend in the US, was extradited to Massachusetts to face trial following his arrest in Nairobi.
Kang'ethe fled to Kenya after killing his girlfriend, 30-year-old Margaret Mbitu, who body was discovered in a vehicle parked at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
After months of international pursuit, Kang’ethe was officially extradited to Boston on September 1, 2024.
Upon arrival, he was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court and charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors described the killing of Mbitu as calculated and cold-blooded, arguing that the suspect had deliberately tried to avoid justice by fleeing the country.
Kang’ethe pleaded not guilty, and the court ordered that he be held without bail pending trial.
