Murder of Kris Kime

Kristopher Randal "Kris" Kime (June 25, 1980 – February 28, 2001) was a 20-year-old resident of Auburn, Washington, and a student at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington. In the early morning hours of February 28, 2001, during the Seattle Mardi Gras Riots in the city's Pioneer Square district, Kime was killed while attempting to help a young woman who was lying on the ground and being attacked by rioters.

As Kime bent over to assist her, he was struck on the back of the head by Jerell Thomas, then 17 years old. Kime fell and struck his head again on the pavement, and other rioters began kicking him as he lay there. His friends and bystanders surrounded him to shield him from further harm. Friends sought police assistance, but officers had been instructed not to enter the riot zone and did not intervene. Off-duty fire department workers and Kime's friends carried him out of the area to a nearby street, where he was placed in a police vehicle and taken to Harborview Medical Center and put on life support. He died the following night. His cause of death was listed as a fractured skull and subdural hematoma.

Kime's mother, Kimberly Kime-Parks, publicly criticized the Seattle Police Department for allowing the riots to escalate without intervention, stating that police were not there "to protect and serve" her son. In response to the riots, Seattle Mayor Paul Schell announced a moratorium on Mardi Gras celebrations in the city. Kime's family later filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle, alleging that instructions for police to stand by and not intervene had enhanced danger to citizens and emboldened lawlessness. The case was settled, with the family receiving $1,750,000 from the city along with annuity payments designated to establish a scholarship in Kime's name. A bronze memorial plaque was also placed in Pioneer Square.

Jerell Thomas was identified by police as the attacker and was convicted of second-degree murder in 2001. That conviction was later overturned by the Washington State Court of Appeals, based on a prior Washington Supreme Court ruling holding that an assault resulting in death cannot constitute murder absent intent to kill. In 2006, Thomas was retried and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, receiving a 10-year sentence. He was released from prison in December 2009. Since his release, Thomas has been convicted in multiple domestic violence incidents and was reported to be serving a five-year prison sentence for domestic violence assault and harassment, along with an additional firearms charge stemming from a 2011 incident involving a girlfriend.

Following Kime's death, his organs were made available for donation, and five people received organ transplants. A March 2006 CBS News report noted that the five transplant recipients were invited to attend the May 2006 wedding of Kime's sister, Kirsten.