Family mourns death of Skyline student after stabbing
To Shahad Kamil, it still feels surreal that she recently buried her younger brother, Saef.
On March 1, Saef Kamil, 17, bled to death after being stabbed numerous times in the neck, chest, and pelvis near the Timberlane Clubhouse in Covington. Kamil was a student at Skyline High School.
Earlier that day, Kamil had asked his mother if he could visit friends from Tahoma High School, where he had previously attended. His mother was initially skeptical, considering it was his sister’s birthday, but eventually agreed to take him. Kamil’s brother, Mohammed Kamil, 21, also accompanied him and their mother.
“[Saef] was just being the way he is, nothing [was] different about him. He was just laughing. He was happy,” Shahad Kamil, 24, said in an interview with the Sammamish Independent, describing her brother’s behavior just hours before his passing.
The trio arrived at the Timberlane Clubhouse at around 3 p.m, according to Shahad Kamil. Upon getting out of the car, the Kamil brothers were met by a teenager named Elyjah Ray, a friend of Saef Kamil. Ray told the brothers that he had been attacked by a group of three individuals.
According to a recent King 5 report, the brothers quickly spotted the attackers and confronted them verbally. The Kamil brothers were pepper-sprayed by the assailants and became involved in a fistfight with them.
The altercation escalated when one attacker produced a weapon. The attacker proceeded to stab Saef Kamil five times in the neck, chest and pelvis.
Shahad Kamil said that, to her knowledge, the weapon was lodged between the attacker’s fingers. The attacker then threw punches while simultaneously stabbing Saef Kamil with the weapon between their fingers. The Sammamish Independent has not independently verified this version of events.
“[Saef] took two steps and fell down right on the spot,” Shahad Kamil said.
Paramedics arrived at the scene shortly after, but their efforts were in vain. Saef Kamil’s lungs had filled with blood due to his neck wounds. He was pronounced dead at 3:33 p.m. on March 1.
“[Saef] was literally drowning in his own blood. That’s how he died,” said Shahad Kamil.
After Kamil had been stabbed, the three assailants fled the scene immediately. Later that day, a man matching witness descriptions was found by King County Sheriff’s deputies as he attempted to crawl through nearby undergrowth.
The suspect was arrested and identified as a 20-year-old Kent man. He was booked under investigation for second-degree murder, but was released three days later, on March 4, in accordance with Washington State’s 72-hour rule in criminal cases. The rule states that suspects must be released from custody if charges are not filed against them within 72 hours.
“If there was evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt right now, prosecutors would file the case,” Casey McNerthey, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said in an email to the Sammamish Independent. “I get that, from news reports, some folks feel like [there] is enough to file charges already.”
The investigation into Kamil’s death remains ongoing.
“I can’t outline what’s happening with the ongoing police investigation because I don’t want to jeopardize the investigation – and I understand that isn’t satisfying either,” McNerthey said.
For Shahad Kamil, the hardest part of her brother’s passing has been burying him. The Kamil family buried Saef in Tukwila. They have lived in Sammamish for three years, but are now considering moving.
“With us having memories of him right now, [in Sammamish] all the time, we’re thinking of relocating somewhere where we won’t be reminded of him all the time, because every corner, every store is just Saef,” Shahad Kamil said.
The Kamil family has set up a GoFundMe to cover expenses and help support the family following Saef Kamil’s passing.
