Suspect charged in fatal traffic-circle assault

Police are asking the public's help in finding Brian Keith Brown, a 28-year-old man they believe is responsible for the assault that killed a South Seattle man tending a neighborhood traffic circle last week.

Witnesses told police that James Paroline -- a Vietnam War vet who had petitioned the city to install the traffic circle -- was punched once by Brown and hit his head on the concrete.

Paroline did not come out of a coma and died Thursday night.

Monday afternoon, the King County Prosecutor's Office charged Brown with second-degree murder.

	Seattle Police Department
Brown

Brown, who had completed his GED and most recently lived in Renton, has a criminal history dating to 1998, including guilty pleas for second-degree malicious mischief, felony assault and third-degree theft. The 28-year-old also pleaded guilty to a 1999 drug charge in King County Superior Court.

He also has misdemeanor convictions for criminal trespass, driving with a suspended license, obstructing law enforcement and felony drug possession.

At about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Paroline was watering the little garden he had planted on the traffic circle at 61st Avenue South and South Cooper Street. He ran a garden hose from his house at the corner to the traffic circle -- one of roughly 700 that city transportation officials estimate have gardens on them.

Paroline put a traffic cone in the right lane to keep drivers from driving over the hose.

Several young women and girls in cars told Paroline to move the cones so they could pass. He refused, and the girls eventually got out of their cars, a police report said. The confrontation escalated, and the girls later alleged Paroline squirted them with water from the hose, according to court documents.

A video shot by a neighbor doesn't show the alleged spraying, and it appears to show Paroline ignoring the girls, according to a police report. The girls can be heard yelling that he squirted them with water and that he assaulted one of them, according to court documents. The girls circled Paroline continuing to scream before they eventually walked away.

A few moments later, police say that Brown -- dressed in a do-rag, gray tank top and blue jeans -- arrived in a silver Buick.

"He walked up to Paroline, paused as though he may have been saying something, then suddenly sucker-punched Paroline hard in the jaw or face," court documents allege.

The 60-year-old's hands were at his side when he was struck, and he fell backward, possibly being knocked unconscious when his head hit the street with a loud pop, police say.

"I saw him squirt the girl and my reaction was it wasn't a big deal, but it was a big deal to her," said neighbor Richard Dixon, who called police. "I didn't expect him to hit the guy."

The King County Medical Examiner's Office found that Paroline suffered a fracture on the back of his skull and multiple facial fractures.

Court documents show Brown has a history of violence.

In June 2004, Brown head-butted a woman in the laundry room of her Renton apartment building. The victim, who had dated Brown's then-girlfriend, told police Brown "jumped on her and choked her with such force that she could not breathe and thought she was going to die," according to court documents.

He pleaded guilty to third-degree assault from that incident.

Chuck Benson, one of Paroline's neighbors who spoke to girls at the scene, was not surprised that police identified a suspect. He believed the girls had phoned the assailant for help because the man arrived so quickly to the scene.

"I think (police) had a suspect from day one," Benson said Monday. "The rapidity of his response to the situation -- he was no stranger."

Detectives brought the girls to police precincts for questioning the day after the attack, and there they admitted they had not been truthful at the scene when they said they didn't know Brown, according to court documents.

Brown was identified by the girls by his first name and the boyfriend of one of the girls' sister. Police identified him from his driver's license photo, and prosecutors got a no-contact order between Brown and six girls -- including three who were interviewed at the scene.

"You already have the story, but you have it wrong," said Ebonie Shephard, a 22-year-old interviewed at the scene on Monday. "I have a lawyer. I'm not going to talk to you or anybody about this."

She refused to discuss Brown or further comment about the incident. Police spokesman Mark Jamieson said he did not know the connection between Brown and the girls Paroline confronted before the assault.

HOW TO HELP

Anyone with information regarding Brian Keith Brown's whereabouts is asked to call 911.