They were trying to help a woman who had fallen in the fray when Kime was attacked from behind. Prosecutors say Thomas struck Kime twice in the temple with his fist, sending him headlong into the pavement. He died that evening in Harborview Medical Center. Thomas, charged as an adult, was to be transferred from the county's youth center to the King County Jail. In the charges, prosecutors do not contend Thomas meant to kill Kime, only that the assault ended his life.
State law allows murder charges to be filed when a felony is committed and someone dies as a result.
The charges carry a typical sentence of 12 to 20 years in prison. Police say Thomas ran away from his mother's Skyway home Feb. 25. He was arrested earlier this week, after police responded to a disturbance call on Beacon Hill and found him in a duplex with other young people. Police had been looking for him after identifying him in news footage. KCPQ-TV captured video of a young man throwing three punches, the first sending Kime's New York Yankee cap flying, the second landing squarely on the side of his head, and the third missing Kime as he falls to the ground.