By Tim Clifford

This week the King County Prosecutor’s Office filed a charge of Assault in the First Degree and set a bail amount of $500,000 for Junction resident Rony Samir Miranda-Guity after he shot his brother in the chest last week. An arraignment date has been set for Sept. 9.

On Saturday, August 22, at 11:58 p.m. Miranda-Guity, 19, was in his apartment at the San Juan Apartment complex at 4840 California Ave. S.W. when his brother Luis Martinez-Guity, 26, came home. Rony was playing a video game on his X-Box when Luis started an argument with him in their native Honduran language. The two began yelling at each other, with Luis even supposedly slapping Rony on the back of his neck, when Luis grabbed the X-Box.

Holding it in the air he told Rony he was going to smash it at which point things escalated exponentially. Rony grabbed a .25 caliber gun that was in his brother’s closet and shot Luis in the chest.

When speaking with detectives hours later Rony explained “I didn’t even think either. My reaction is my reaction, which was fast after he touched me and tried to grab my X-Box. Like, that’s the only thing that I got that I love.”
After being shot Luis stumbled down the hall to another apartment where he was helped by neighbors Justin Jensen and Marika Malaea Burkhart. Jensen called 911 and applied pressure to Luis’s wound with a towel while Burkhart spoke with dispatchers and allowed medics and police into the building.

Initially responding officers were unsure of what they were walking into and didn’t know if the shooter would try to harm first responders. Approaching the scene cautiously they tended to Luis as his breathing became more shallow and rapid.

No one was aware that Rony had left the building to go for a short walk. By the time SWAT units and a K-9 unit arrived Rony was back inside his unit. He was arrested by SWAT when they entered his apartment to clear the scene.
Almost immediately and despite being given his Miranda Rights Rony explained the argument and admitted point blank that he shot his brother in the chest. He also expressed that he had not thought to call 911 or seek any help for his brother. During the first interview he seemed to imply that he thought his brother might smash him with it and that he fired the shot in self-defense. Later his comments seemed to only be expressing concern for his video game console.
Luis was transported directly to Harbor View Medical Center and in the early morning hours of Aug. 23 he underwent emergency surgery for his gunshot wound. At the time of the filing for charges Luis was still being intubated in Harbor View and required further surgeries for his injury.

The brothers, who are roommates (and still may be even now since there are no protection orders out at this time), both described having a long history of violent arguments. They each described physical altercations in the past that would leave them bruised or injured but neither had ever called the police before.
Rony has one other run-in with law enforcement in his past; he was arrested for robbery but never charged. Under Washington State law if found guilty of Assault in the First Degree Rony could face penalties in excess of 7 to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $50,000.