Matthew Dubois, 18, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for shooting his girlfriend, Mikarah Sanders, on Dec. 31, 2009 in Burien, according to King County Prosecutors.
Dubois pleaded guilty to second degree murder and second degree unlawful possession of a firearm in August, leading to his Oct. 17 sentencing at the hand of Judge Cheryl Carey at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
It was New Year’s Eve when Dubois shot his girlfriend in the face at his apartment on Ambaum Blvd S.W. He was 16 and Sanders was 15.
The following information is a summary of the probable cause documents leading to Dubois’ arrest:
Police received the 911 call of a shooting at 9:30 p.m. that New Year’s Eve and responded to an apartment complex on the 12400 block of Ambaum Blvd. They were initially told two people had been shot and the shooter had fled on foot.
Upon entering the apartment, police found Sanders face down on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. Deputies identified a bullet wound to her cheek and no pulse, so they began CPR. Medics arrived shortly and continued CPR to no avail. The gunshot wound was fatal.
Deputies then discovered a trail of blood leading from the hallway to a nearby apartment where the 911 call had originated from. Inside were Matthew Dubois and the female acquaintance who called 911. Dubois had a gunshot wound to his shoulder and told police a black male, age 19 with a blue bandana had barged into the apartment and shot them both. When asked why, Dubois said, “I think it was over my girlfriend.”
The female who called 911 initially told police she was spending time with Dubois and Sanders, awaiting the countdown to New Years. She was calling her boyfriend (Dubois’ brother), but he was not responding so she went to her Grandma’s nearby apartment to try him from the land line. She told police she heard a shot, looked outside and saw a man running away from Dubois’ apartment. Soon after she heard Dubois say, “(Redacted), help me.”
The caller’s grandma quickly disputed her story, telling police Dubois and the female came to her apartment together. Confronted by detectives with the inconsistency, the female admitted to police she had lied because she was scared. The story changed and she admitted she was in the apartment with Dubois and Sanders. Dubois was “playing” with a small silver revolver in the living room. She told police Dubois and Sanders moved to a bedroom and began arguing over an ex-boyfriend’s post on Sanders MySpace page.
Moments later she heard the gun cock and then fire.
“Please help me,” Dubois said from the room, asking her to call 911. She said Dubois paced while she called police and then shot himself in the shoulder.
As police scoured the apartment they found blood evidence where the victim’s body was found, an empty gun box for a .22 Beretta, a holster and eight .45 caliber bullets. The search moved outside and detectives found the handgun, a .357 Taurus, under a stairway landing with two spent shell casings and blood stains.
At Harborview, detectives interviewed Dubois again, asking him what happened. He claimed the argument over MySpace had occurred, but that he left the room and heard a “pow.” He said he went to investigate and the intruder “tried to take my arm off.” Detectives noted at the time that Dubois never once asked about Sanders and “did not appear to be concerned about her welfare or whereabouts.” At that point he quit talking and asked for a lawyer.
Dubois had prior convictions for tampering with a witness, unlawful possession of a firearm, residential burglary and auto theft.
