Jury finds man guilty in killing of Seattle activist Elijah Lewis

A King County jury found a man guilty Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Seattle community activist.

Patrick Cooney, 37, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the April 1, 2023, killing of Elijah Lewis and first-degree assault in the shooting of Lewis’ 9-year-old nephew.

In the courtroom Wednesday, many of Lewis’ family members burst into tears and embraced as the verdict was read. Cooney remained stone-faced.

“This has been a two-year odyssey, and we have had to fight like tooth and nail, logistically, (financially), everything, to figure out how we’re going to get through this,” said Lewis’ older brother, Mario Dunham. “But a guilty verdict kind of closes the door.”

Much of the attorneys’ arguments hinged on seconds of footage recovered from security cameras at Seattle University and a Walgreens in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, showing the movements of Lewis’ car and Cooney’s scooter before the shooting.

Attorneys representing Cooney argued he acted in self-defense. They said Cooney, riding an electric scooter, felt at risk of being run over by Lewis, so he pulled out his concealed weapon and shot a volley of bullets at the car, a reaction his attorneys described as “survival instinct.”

rosecutors argued the killing was a road-rage-fueled murder.

“This should have been an inconsequential misunderstanding,” prosecutor Terence Carlstrom said during closing arguments Tuesday. “It was not, and it was not because Patrick Cooney pulled his gun and shot when he had no right to.”

Cooney’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 14. According to a spokesperson for the prosecuting attorney’s office, the sentencing range for both counts with firearm enhancements is between 28 and 38 ½ years.

“What was he defending himself against?”

Attorneys didn’t debate whether Cooney had a gun or shot at Lewis — those facts were undisputed. Cooney told a 911 dispatcher he shot at Lewis and handed his gun to a police officer, according to court exhibits.

At question was whether Cooney acted in self-defense.

According to the nephew’s interview with investigators, an argument preceded the shooting. Cooney began cursing at Lewis and Lewis rolled down his window and reportedly yelled something to the effect of “shut your (expletive) up. I’ll run you over.”

Pointing to a moment in the video when the car moves near Cooney and testimony from one witness who said the car “came within inches of hitting him,” Dixon described Lewis’ actions as “assault.” Dixon argued Cooney’s subsequent action to take out his gun and fire five times was a fight-or-flight response.

Carlstrom, the state prosecutor, also relied on security video for his argument. At the point Cooney pulled out his gun, Carlstrom said, Lewis was trying to go around Cooney and was moving away from him.

Cooney shot five times at Lewis’ Toyota Camry, hitting the front passenger-side door and two windows. Lewis was shot in the back and the boy was hit in the leg.

“Self-defense, when four shots enter the passenger apartment from back to front, across a 9-year-old in the front seat,” Carlstrom said. “What’s he defending himself against when the car is moving away from him?”

Cooney did not take the stand. A recording of the 911 call he made was played in court, revealing a frantic Cooney: “I just had a guy try to run me over, so I, I had to pull out my concealed weapon and fire some shots.” At the end of the call, as sirens can be heard in the background, Cooney says to the dispatcher, “I have to end my ride on my scooter, can I hang up?”

In a trial memo, prosecutors described three times between 2022 and 2023 when Cooney’s road rage was reported to Seattle police.

In one incident, prosecutors wrote, Cooney knocked on the trunk of a vehicle blocking a bike lane and pulled a gun from his waistband when the driver got out of her car. The woman later told police he said “I ought to kill your (expletive),” according to court documents.

“Heartbeat for a generation”

After the verdict was read, members of the Cooney and Lewis families, teary-eyed, hugged in the courtroom. “I’m sorry for your loss, too,” Lewis’ mother, Jenine Lewis, said to Cooney’s parents.

“Both of our children came together in a moment, and in a moment, all of our lives … were changed,” Jenine Lewis said.

“When we lost our brother, they lost their son,” Dunham said.

Elijah Lewis was an entrepreneur and activist who took part in the 2020 racial justice protests in Seattle after George Floyd’s murder and worked with the Africatown Community Land Trust, an organization focused on preserving the city’s Black community. When he was killed, Lewis had just picked up his nephew and was driving him to a monster truck rally to celebrate the boy’s ninth birthday.

His killing struck a chord among his family and members of Seattle’s Black activist community, many of whom packed the courtroom throughout the trial.

“My brother was a heartbeat for a generation of young people,” Dunham said.

Jenine Lewis said she’s held events with other mothers in the Seattle area who have lost children. Working in the community to foster knowledge and offer resources is how she honors her son’s legacy. He was someone who “brought people from all backgrounds together,” she said.

“Keeping (Elijah’s) name alive … is what has guided me,” Jenine Lewis said.