Brothers accused of a pair of fatal shootings in the Jungle homeless encampment as teens in early 2016 will face a trial for those charges beginning Monday morning.
The shooting spurred politicians to clear the area—long considered a magnet for drug use—of roughly 400 homeless people later that year.
Brothers James and Jerome Taafulisia were 17 and 16 years old respectively when they were arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault in early 2016.
They're now 20 and 18 years old—and being tried as adults.
A third brother, just 13 years old at the time of his arrest, was also charged as a juvenile of the same crimes and found guilty in May of this year, according to court documents.
Two men and three women were shot when masked men entered a part of the Jungle encampment known as "The Cave"' on January 26, 2016. One female and one male victim died. One woman begged to be spared before she was shot, court documents say.
If found guilty, the older brothers face sentences of life in prison.
Police records indicate the shooting may have been the result of a drug deal that turned ugly. A backpack with heroin and money inside was stolen from the scene.
A Seattle police charging document said the three brothers admitted to police informants that they were involved in the shooting.
The same document says the brothers sold the gun allegedly used in the shooting to the informants, who bought it with cash supplied by the Seattle Police Department. The police department said that the meeting between the brothers and informants was recorded on video.
The trial's opening statements begin Monday.
