Murder suspect back in custody after judge ‘inexplicably’ sets initial bail at $50K, which he posted a day after handyman slaying

K’Shawn Jimerson allegedly attacked Michael Gray with a wooden stick outside a home in Renton, Washington. Jimerson then stabbed Gray to death, cops say. (King County Prosecutors Office).

Prosecutors and cops in Washington state were fuming after a judge gave a murder suspect a $50,000 bond — which the man promptly posted, setting him free just one day after the alleged killing.

K’Shawn Konscience Jimerson, 19, is accused of stabbing 65-year-old Michael Gray, a handyman who was doing work on Jimerson’s home in Renton, a suburb of Seattle, on Sept. 27. Prosecutors filed second-degree murder charges against Jimerson and requested a judge set his bond at $2 million. Instead, she gave him a $50,000 bail, meaning all he had to do was pay $5,000 to get out of jail, which he did on Saturday.

“Although the Defendant committed a gratuitously violent crime, inexplicably, bail was set at only $50,000 on the basis of a lack of criminal history and ties to the community,” the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office wrote.

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According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, Jimerson called police around 2:18 a.m. on Sept. 27 and said he “stabbed someone” with a kitchen knife. Cops rushed to the scene and found Jimerson in the street with blood on his right foot, pant leg and sandals. Officers went into the apartment and found Gray unconscious and not breathing in the living room. Cops noted his shirt was soaked with blood. There was blood all over the apartment, cops said. Paramedics arrived on the scene and pronounced Gray dead.

Neighbors told cops the homeowner, Jimerson’s aunt, had asked Gray to do some work on the apartment, the affidavit said. Gray lived across the street.

Jimerson reportedly claimed self-defense but cops didn’t buy his story and found evidence proving otherwise.

Following Jimerson’s release from jail the day after the slaying, prosecutors filed an emergency motion to increase the defendant’s bond. As part of the motion, prosecutors submitted new evidence to the court reportedly showing Jimerson attacking Gray from behind with a wooden stick. Jimerson ran back into his apartment and Gray followed.

“Within fifteen seconds of the victim entering the apartment unit, the Defendant had already stabbed him twice with a large kitchen knife — one stab to the right flank and one stab to the victim’s back,” prosecutors wrote. “This was a violent attack that started with a wooden stick and escalated to the use of a large kitchen knife, which was located in a sink and appeared to have been cleaned.”