FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Charges against the suspect in a Fourth of July drive-by shooting in Federal Way were upgraded Thursday to first-degree murder after the victim died.
Sir Antonio-Patrick Agee II, 19, of Kent is accused of fatally shooting Matthew Saelor, 19, while a group of people were getting ready to light off sparklers in a residential neighborhood.
Agee was previously charged with first-degree assault in the incident.
Agee and two other people were driving through the neighborhood at about 10 p.m. when a witness said someone yelled at the car to slow down because there were children present.
Investigators said Agee, who was riding in the backseat of the car, swore at the witness and fired several shots out the window.
One of the shots hit Saelor in the head, and another round went through the bedroom window of the family’s home. Saelor was within several feet of four other people during the shooting, one of whom was his 12-year-old sister, according to probable cause documents.
Officers who were in the area spotted a car that matched the description of the suspect vehicle and pulled it over. During the traffic stop, officers saw a handgun in the backseat.
The driver of the car said that while she was driving, she heard a woman yell something at them and then Agee or the other passenger yelled something back. The driver said she heard fireworks but not gunshots.
Saelor died July 7 from a gunshot wound to the head, according to probable cause documents.
Agee's next court date is Aug. 22. Bail is reserved at $2 million, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
