Man who fatally shot Seattle art teacher gets 34 years

SEATTLE – A 55-year-old Seattle man has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for the murder of an art teacher.

The Seattle Times reported Richard Roundtree, who also goes by the name Richard Whitaker, was sentenced Tuesday in the December shooting. Brent McDonald, a 49-year-old teacher, was killed around 3 a.m. Dec. 12.

Prosecutors said at trial that McDonald’s chance meeting with Roundtree and his girlfriend on a downtown Seattle street was captured by a video-surveillance camera. Prosecutors say it didn’t show any kind of argument between the two men.

The video showed Roundtree pull a gun and shoot McDonald, then flee with his girlfriend in a car.

Roundtree had claimed self-defense but the jury didn’t believe his account that McDonald had been behaving aggressively, prompting Roundtree to shoot.