A man who had just gotten out of prison confessed to shooting a man to death 10 years ago, telling police he wanted to “make things right.”
Michael Drake, 29, said he killed a man for failing to pay a drug debt, detectives said. He was charged Monday with first-degree murder and was jailed on $1 million bail.
Donte Jwon Red, 24, was found dead on a street in suburban Seattle shortly after midnight on Oct. 24, 1995. Red’s mother, Janet Stewart, said the family stayed in touch with detectives, but there were no suspects or leads.
But on Nov. 21, Drake was released from prison, where he had been sentenced for malicious mischief, and met with investigators.
According to court documents, Drake told investigators Red owed him money for drugs. Drake said he drove Red to a dark area near the Duwamish River, saying he had more drugs in the trunk, then shot him as he tried to flee.
Police said Red’s killing had been weighing on Drake, and detectives told The Seattle Times he talked of wanting to “make things right.”
Stewart told the newspaper she had come to accept that she might never learn who killed her son. “But at least now I know ... and we can put a face on the other side of that weapon. That helps to heal all of us.”