It's about 150 yards from the south entrance at Discovery Park to a thick stand of pine trees just off the Loop Trail, where murder suspect Demar S. Rhome led police to the body of 17-year-old Lashonda Shantell Flynn last week.
The teenager - who had been stabbed multiple times - was partially covered by a sheet, a blanket and a garbage bag, according to court documents.
Rhome, a 20-year-old with a criminal history, has fingered his girlfriend, 17-year-old Kialani Brown, for the killing. He alleges, among other things, that the 5-foot-3-inch-tall Brown carried Flynn's body to its dumping place all by herself after he, Brown and Brown's 2-year-old child arrived in the park by taxi.
That's not the only surprising Rhome statement found in the Nov. 26 Certification for Determination of Probable Cause, which led to Rhome and Brown being charged with murder in the second degree.
Rhome also alleges that the murder took place because of a lurid love triangle involving him and the two women, and he figured he'd be able to skate on murder charges, because - he alleged - Brown alone was responsible for the killing, according to court documents.
Brown's side of the story is unknown at the moment, and the King County Prosecutor's Office isn't talking. "We don't comment in regard to any witness statements," said spokesman Dan Donohoe. "They're both charged with the same crime," he added, saying that both are being charged as adults.
Police were tipped off to the murder by Brown's mother following a Nov. 23 call from Rhome, in which he said the woman's daughter had stabbed his ex-girlfriend two days earlier, according to court documents. Rhome also allegedly said he had the knife that was used and that he knew where Flynn's body was located.
Brown's mother promptly called Seattle police, giving them a return phone number Rhome gave her, along with a street name he uses.
Seattle police traced the phone number to a duplex in the 2300 block of E. Pine St., where Rhome and Brown were arrested. In the first of several contradictory statements Rhome made after he was Mirandized, Rhome said the murder actually took place at a residence on East Alder Street, where they went "because the resident was supposedly in jail and they wanted a place to party," the court documents state.
Investigation revealed that an extended family with small children live at the East Alder address, and Rhome ultimately admitted that Flynn was murdered in his apartment on East Pine Street, according to court documents. "He told police he had not mentioned this earlier because his landlord didn't want police to come around," the documents add.
In addition, Rhome at first told police the murder took place a week earlier, on Saturday, Nov. 15, but he finally told police the murder took place on Thursday,Nov. 20, or Friday, Nov. 21, according to court documents.
The documents also state that investigation revealed Brown and Rhome bought a knife on Nov. 20 at a dollar store on Capitol Hill, and Rhome alleged that Brown had asked his advice several days earlier on how to best commit a murder.
The murder was committed when both Brown and Flynn were naked and preparing to have sex with each other, according to Rhome's statements in court documents.
Rhome also alleges that Flynn's hands were bound behind her back and that her face was covered when Brown suddenly pulled out a knife and started stabbing the teenager. "Flynn begged for Rhome's assistance, but Rhome said he just stood by," according to court documents.
Why Rhome and Brown chose Discovery Park as a place to allegedly dispose of Flynn's body is unknown. But they hauled her body there in a large, zippered duffel bag that was placed in the trunk of the taxi that took them to the park, according to court documents.
The taxi driver - who picked Rhome and Brown out of a photo montage - told police he picked up the pair at Rhome's address at 10:08 a.m. Nov. 21. The taxi driver even helped Rhome get the heavy duffel bag out of the trunk when they arrived in Discovery Park that Friday, according to court documents.
The taxi driver also told police he thought the duffel bag contained garbage and that his passengers were preparing to camp in the Magnolia park.
"Rhome brushed over how he and Brown dumped Flynn's body in the park, but he did continue his non-stop, inconsistent and contradictory diatribe regarding various scenarios, mostly sexual, regarding the murder of Flynn," according to court documents.
Rhome and Brown are currently being held in the King County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond apiece. Rhome has 2002 convictions on his record for robbery, theft and attempted theft.
A suspect in a number of pending robbery cases, Rhome has also been arrested numerous times in the past for property crimes, as well as assault, malicious mischief and harassment, according to court documents.
Because of his prior criminal history, Rhome faces 12 years, 10 months to 21 years, two months in jail if convicted, said Donohoe from the prosecutor's office.
Brown faces 10 years, three months to 18 years, four months in jail if she is convicted, Donohoe said.
