Seattle – A 40-year-old member of the Tulalip Tribes was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 17 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm in a crime of violence, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Abdul Qasim Ray Zahir shot and killed a friend who had been helping him work on a car in a detached garage at his home on the Tulalip reservation. Zahir shot the victim during a sudden quarrel over noise from the auto work. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said, “This is a sad case in so many different ways… The taking of a life – it doesn’t get more serious than that…. This was a senseless act.”
“This was a completely senseless crime – Mr. Zahir used a homemade firearm to shoot the victim in the back of the head, the heart and shoulder during nothing more than a verbal altercation,” said First Assistant Neil Floyd. “The defendant’s lengthy criminal history – including firing a gun during a robbery at a Costco warehouse and a prior ten-year federal sentence for drug trafficking, mandate significant prison time to protect the community.”
According to records filed in the case, on May 28, 2022, the victim, Zahir and others were in the detached garage, when Zahir’s cousin complained about the noise the victim was making. As the victim walked towards Zahir’s cousin, Zahir pulled out a gun and fired three shots killing the victim. Zahir refused to try to aid the victim or call 9-1-1 for aid. The victim was unarmed.
Despite prior felony convictions, Zahir possessed firearms and ammunition – the guns all self-manufactured “ghost guns.” As prosecutors noted in their sentencing memo, “From Zahir’s garage, where the homicide occurred, agents also recovered three additional ‘ghost gun’ firearms with no serial numbers, including two AR-15 style assault rifles and one modified .22 caliber pistol. Other items recovered from Zahir’s residence made clear that he was directly involved in the manufacture of ghost guns.” Zahir was also actively selling fentanyl pills.
At the time of the shooting, Zahir was facing charges in King County Superior Court: attempted robbery, illegal possession of a firearm, and possession of a stolen vehicle. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Zahir will plead guilty to those charges, and the state prosecutor will recommend that the sentence in state court will run concurrent to Zahir’s sentence in federal custody.
Judge Martinez imposed five years of supervised release to follow the prison sentence. Restitution for the victim’s family will be determined at a later date.
“Mr. Zahir ruthlessly killed an unarmed victim by shooting him multiple times at close range, all because of an argument,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “No sentence can ever bring back the life Zahir so needlessly took. However, it is our hope this sentence sends a message that the FBI and our law enforcement partners take violent crime seriously, both on tribal lands and throughout Washington state, especially those who have failed to learn their lesson from prior offenses.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Tulalip Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.