Victim of bus-tunnel beating sentenced for unrelated robbery

EVERETT — The teenage girl who made headlines earlier this year as the victim of a videotaped beating in the Seattle transit tunnel was sentenced Monday to 15 to 36 weeks in juvenile detention for an unrelated robbery in Snohomish County.

Aiesha Steward-Baker, 16, of Seattle, was convicted earlier this month of second-degree robbery for an attack on a 50-year-old Shoreline woman.

According to Snohomish County prosecutors, Steward-Baker and a teenage friend attacked the woman as she was walking home from an Edmonds pub May 23, 2009. The other girl pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 to 36 weeks in juvenile detention.

But during a bench trial before a juvenile-court judge, Steward-Baker claimed she had been talking innocently to a few male friends when she looked up and saw the other girl in an "altercation" with the victim. Steward-Baker said she did not know her friend was trying to steal the victim's purse and only got involved in the fray because she thought the adult woman was getting the better of her friend.

Judge George Bowden convicted Steward-Baker, saying he did not find her version of events credible.

On Monday, Steward-Baker's attorney said his client had been turning her life around, working at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, studying to earn her GED and undergoing counseling.

Steward-Baker said, "I wish to apologize to Ms. Tamie Cox, and I promise not to be involved in a situation like this ever again."

Bowden said he recognized the girl's recent accomplishment and the importance of her support network.

Those things have "put her on a path that I would very much like to encourage," he said.

Nevertheless, he said, those positive factors were undermined when Steward-Baker testified during her trial and told a story that he found "to be preposterous and an insult to the victim."

The victim, Tamie Cox, said the sentence was "fair and true."

"I wish her all the luck in the world, but her attitude and her family's focus needs to change," Cox said.

Steward-Baker was taken into custody immediately after the sentencing hearing.

Relatives and supporters of the girl declined to comment.

The Edmonds robbery came to light shortly after a surveillance camera captured Steward-Baker, then 15, being punched and kicked in the head by another young girl Jan. 28 in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. The attack happened at the feet of two security guards who called for help but did not physically intervene.

The incident sparked widespread outcry and changes in tunnel security.

Six people were arrested in connection with the bus-tunnel attack against Steward-Baker. The primary attacker, who was 15 at the time, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree assault and was sentenced to 15 to 36 weeks in juvenile detention.

The Seattle Times typically does not name people who are prosecuted as juveniles, but Steward-Baker appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and held a news conference in Seattle after the tunnel incident.

In addition to the conviction in Snohomish County, Steward-Baker has had a deferred prosecution in King County for punching a security guard in the head who tried to stop her from shoplifting.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report. Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com