SEATTLE — Seattle police have arrested a suspect in one of three deadly shootings that struck Belltown over Labor Day weekend, and court records show he had just been released from custody in a separate domestic violence assault case days before the killing.
The 23-year-old woman killed has been identified as Tionna Simpson. Family members tell KOMO News that Simpson’s daughter just turned 6 months old. Now, she’ll grow up without her mother.
“It’s just heartbreaking. The baby will never get to see her again,” said Antonio Rhodes, Simpson’s father.
Simpson was shot and killed in her car near Third and Blanchard in Belltown in the early morning hours of Sept. 6 during a violent holiday weekend that left three people dead in three separate shootings.
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“She’s my firstborn, my heart, my life,” Rhodes said. “She was so full of life and had so much to look forward to.”
According to court records, Simpson was with one other person the night she was killed, who was seen talking with the suspect and ran from the scene when the shooting started. It’s unclear whether investigators have located that person.
Surveillance cameras in the area captured the shooting. They show the suspect driving a dark blue Chevy Malibu.
Police arrested 44-year-old Theaellis Hall after a tip from a witness who identified the suspect’s girlfriend. That lead pointed investigators to a prior hit-and-run report involving the Malibu, which is registered to Hall. Court records say the tipster also told police Hall is a known crack dealer who frequently deals in the area where the shooting happened.
Investigators say Hall admitted he was the man seen on video getting into the driver’s seat of the Malibu minutes before the murder. But according to court records, he said he “did not remember this part of the evening” when shown video of the driver shooting the victim and “repeatedly said that he did not know that girl and would have no reason to shoot her.”
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Records show Hall has three prior felony convictions, most of them dating back to the 1990s, and had just been sentenced in his latest case when he was arrested for Simpson’s murder.
“The last time we saw this defendant was early August, when prosecutors asked for him to be held for three months, which was the high end of the sentencing range in that domestic violence assault case,” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “Ultimately, there was some mitigating material by the defense. His employer spoke on his behalf, and the court sentenced him to one month, which is lower than what prosecutors asked for, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Hall was released from custody on Sept. 3, just three days before Simpson was killed.
“She didn’t deserve any of it,” said Althea Benjamin, Simpson’s grandmother. “We just want justice.”
Hall is now being held on $4 million bail as he faces a possible murder charge in Simpson’s death. Prosecutors are expected to file charges Thursday.