King County Superior Court on June 14 convicted two Auburn men in the 2022 shooting death of a Kent man at Southcenter Mall in Tukwila.
According to the documents, 19-year-old Joe Aguilera and 20-year-old Cristopher Ruvalcaba of Auburn, identified as gang members, shot 30-year-old Chris Wesolowicz and injured Wesolowicz’s wife during a carjacking at the mall on Nov. 18, 2022. A third suspect, 17-year-old Kevin Diaz-Bautista of Auburn, continues to await a jury trial.
According to the indictment, ballistics tests determined that the two firearms Aguilera and Ruvalcaba used to shoot Wesolowicz were also used in five other shootings. Assistant District Attorney Christopher Anderson said in the indictment that the arrest of the three people ended a “shootout across South King County.”
Judge Andrea Darvas sentenced Aguilera and Ruvalcaba after both men agreed to a plea deal and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on March 25. Pursuant to the plea deal, the court dismissed a charge of theft of a motor vehicle against both men at sentencing.
Friends and family members of Ruvalcaba, Aguilera and Wesolowicz, including Wesolowicz’s wife, attended the sentencing.
The court sentenced Aguilera to ten years and three months in prison and Ruvalcaba to twelve years and six months in the custody of the Washington State Department of Corrections.
According to court documents, Aguilera was under 18 at the time of the shooting and will initially be transferred to a facility run by the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Both men face a further three years of joint detention after their arrest.
Diaz-Bautista, 17, remains awaiting trial for second-degree murder.
King County Superior Court will try Diaz-Bautista, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, as an adult due to the severity of the charges. The court has scheduled Diaz-Bautista’s trial before a jury for Aug. 12.
Diaz-Bautista remains in the custody of the county’s Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle on $2 million bail.
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Joe Aguilera. Photo courtesy
