‘She was a really giving person’: Friend of randomly shot pregnant woman in Belltown speaks out
Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood is reeling after a pregnant woman was shot and killed. Her baby was delivered at the hospital but did not survive.
Investigators believe it was a completely random attack.
Prosecutors said the suspect did not know the woman or her male companion, who was also shot.
The shooting happened on Fourth Avenue and Lenora around 11 a.m. Tuesday. Court documents show the victims are Sung and Eina Kwon. A small memorial now sits at the light where the two were shot, and where first responders tried to save Eina and her baby.
KIRO 7 spoke to Michael Hoyle, one of Eina’s friends.
“She was just a really, really giving person. And to hear about this happening (Tuesday). You know, she was expecting,” said Hoyle. “She had a kid on the way with her family and she leaves behind another little one and uh, who’s gonna help them? Who’s gonna make sure that he can sustain a restaurant now that he’s gone through this tragedy?”
Michael Hoyle went on to say he’s not sad, he’s angry, describing Eina as the “most selfless person” he’s ever met.
“You can’t prevent this, not unless there’s policy change,” said Hoyle. “I’m angry and there needs to be action.”
There are two memorials in Eina’s honor, one on Fourth and Lenora and another at the Japanese restaurant she and Sung owned on Western and Lenora. People walking by both just can’t help but express how shocked, scared, and just sorry they are that a mom and her baby were killed by a complete stranger with a gun.
“It just blew my mind how bad it was,” said Carliss Todd, who works as a security guard at a building across Lenora.
Todd works on the side of the intersection Eina Kwon never made it to.
“Sitting here I heard about three or four shots,” Todd said. “(I) saw a guy carrying a big long rifle gun by CVS there. They saw him running.”
Court documents show the man Todd saw Tuesday morning was 30-year-old Cordell Goosby. He took pictures of Goosby’s arrest, and what he’s wearing matched the description in the court documents. Those same documents show Goosby had a handgun and shot into the Kwons’ car. Eina was hit four times. She was eight months pregnant.
“It was terrible. I was like, ‘Wow, look at that. They’re trying to revive her back and bring her back,’” Todd said. “I’ve never seen something like that before. It was just stunning, it was like wow, I just couldn’t believe it.”
An ambulance took Eina to Harborview Medical Center. She was rushed into surgery and her baby was delivered but sadly, they both died. Seattle’s mayor also addressed the killing Tuesday night at a press conference.
“We suffered a tragedy on the streets of downtown Seattle,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said. “They are relying on us for hope.”
Police arrested Goosby in front of Todd’s building. When they arrived, Goosby put his hands up and said “I did it, I did it,” according to court documents.
Documents say he told police he started firing because he thought he saw a gun in the car. Detectives said he appeared to be in some level of crisis and that the gun he used was stolen.
Prosecutors want to charge him with two counts of first-degree murder, assault, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Eric Tanaka helps run four businesses on Fourth Avenue and said something this brazen has never happened before.
“When something like this happens, it kind of colors the argument against coming back. Why should I come downtown — it’s dangerous? It’s hard to counter that at this point,” Tanaka said. “I would like to see more police downtown walking the streets.”
Court documents show Goosby doesn’t have a record in Washington but has one out of Cook County, IL, where Chicago is. He’s due in court again Thursday.
A friend of Eina’s has set up a GoFundMe account to help the Kwon family.
