Published March 12 2015
SEATTLE -- Steven Padilla, the suspect in the stabbing of a man at a Burger King in Bellevue last year, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, March 10, to second-degree murder.
With a deadly weapon sentencing enhancement, Padilla faces 13 to 21.5 years in prison. Padilla will be sentenced on March 31 at 4 p.m. at the King County courthouse in Seattle.
On August 17, 2014, at approximately 3:17 p.m., Bellevue Police officers responded to the Burger King at 14620 NE 24th St. Witnesses had called to report that an individual at that location had been stabbed.
While officers were on their way to the scene, the suspect left the scene on foot. Officers found Padilla in an adjacent parking lot and took him into custody without further incident. Padilla, 38, was homeless. The victim, Jose Arias, 65, was also homeless and had been living in the area. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bellevue Police Detective Jerry Johnson stated: "Because of the teamwork of everyone involved in this case, from NORCOM dispatchers and Bellevue patrol officers, detectives and forensic scientists, to the Everett Police K-9 unit that discovered the murder weapon and the King County Medical Examiner and Prosecutor’s Office, justice has been served -- even for a person who is relatively invisible in our society."