Teen charged in killing of girlfriend in jealous anger

King County prosecutors say 16-year-old Matthew Dubois fatally shot his girlfriend because he was jealous and angry over a message another boy had posted on her MySpace page.

Dubois, a Highline High School student, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Mikarah Sanders on New Year's Eve. Dubois then shot himself in the shoulder to make it appear he was a victim of gang violence, according to charging documents.

The Burien teenager has a lengthy juvenile criminal history, including residential burglary, theft and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records. Dubois was on electronic home monitoring at the time of the shooting, the papers say.

Dubois is being charged as an adult and, if convicted, could face 17 to 25 years in prison, said Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Although Dubois is still recovering at Harborview Medical Center from the gunshot wound, he was booked into jail in absentia Tuesday, Donohoe said. Once he is released from the hospital, Dubois will be transferred to the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, which has a wing for defendants under 18 who are charged as adults, Donohoe said.

Just after 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, King County sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call at an apartment at 12445 Ambaum Blvd. S.W., in Burien, charging papers say. The deputies were told that two people had been shot and that the gunman had fled the scene, the papers say.

In Dubois' bedroom, deputies found Sanders face down on a bed, according to charging documents. She'd been shot at close range in the left cheek with a .357-caliber Taurus handgun, which later was found under a stairway at the apartment complex, the papers say. She died at Harborview early the next morning.

Dubois and his brother's girlfriend told detectives someone else was responsible for the shooting, the papers say.

But the woman later admitted hearing Dubois and Sanders arguing over a comment Sanders' ex-boyfriend had posted on Sanders' MySpace page, followed by a single gunshot, according to charging papers.

She said she then watched Dubois shoot himself in the shoulder, the papers say.

In an interview with detectives, Dubois said a man with a blue bandanna in his back pocket ran into the apartment, fired two shots and fled, according to the charging documents. The statement is an apparent reference to a South Seattle street gang aligned with the Crips, whose members typically wear blue.

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com