By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Tommy Le
The trial regarding the wrongful death of Tommy Le by a King County Sheriff’s deputy will begin on June 10, 2019.
On April 30, federal court judge Thomas Zilly denied a motion by King County attorneys asking for the dismissal of the Le family lawsuit naming King County, Executive Dow Constantine, and John Urquhart, the sheriff at the time of the shooting, as defendants.
Jeffery Campiche, an attorney for the Le family, said, “In this time of widespread public concern regarding officer shootings of citizens, the Le family hopes that this lawsuit will reveal the truth about the deadly force shooting of Tommy Le. Le was unarmed when he was shot in the back by a King County Sheriff’s officer. The Le family hopes that this trial will change the deadly force practices of the King County Sheriff’s Office.”
A King County review board concluded that the June 2017 shooting death was justified. The findings, released in August 2018, said that Deputy Cesar Molina reasonably believed that Le was armed with a deadly weapon and that he had already attacked someone with a knife.
Le, 20, was shot and killed just hours before he was scheduled to graduate from high school.