Police search for suspect in fatal shooting of 8-year-old Federal Way girl

The girl’s father was initially arrested by police, but further investigation has revealed a new suspect.

Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a suspect who may be connected to the fatal shooting of an 8-year-old Federal Way girl on April 25.

Andre Marcelle Jimerson, 35, is suspected of being inside the apartment and allegedly firing the fatal shot. Jimerson is a 6-foot-2, 230-pound Black man with last known addresses in Auburn and Kent.

He should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.

Anyone with information regarding this case should contact the Federal Way Police Department at 253-835-2121.

Around 11:30 a.m. April 25, an 8-year-old girl arrived at St. Francis Hospital with a gunshot wound. The shooting occurred near the 27900 block of Pacific Highway South, according to Cmdr. Kurt Schwan of Federal Way police.

At the time, Federal Way police believed the child’s father unintentionally shot her after a bullet traveled through three apartment walls when he was handling a gun.

The 8-year-old girl has been identified as Royal’lee Wallace. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she died on April 26 from a gunshot wound to the head. Her death has been ruled a homicide.

On April 25, Federal Way police detectives developed probable cause to arrest the father on the afternoon of the shooting incident, based on the initial statement he provided about being alone in his apartment with his child when she was shot, Schwan said.

Detectives discovered two other individuals were in the apartment with the father when the shooting occurred. It was the father’s initial refusal to share information and failure to identify the actual shooter that led to his arrest, Schwan said.

The father has not returned the Mirror’s requests for comment.