Well, let me tell you ’bout this fella, Bryan Kim. Heard tell he was just a young’un, maybe 19 or so. Real tragedy, it was, what happened. Folks sayin’ he done killed his own ma and pa. Can you believe it?
They say it happened up on Mount Spokane. Big place, Mount Spokane. Lots of trees and hills. This boy, Bryan, he lived up there in a house. Went to the high school there too. Mount Spokane High, they call it. Smart boy, they say, honors student even.
- Killed his ma and pa
- Lived on Mount Spokane
- Went to Mount Spokane High
- Honors student
But somethin’ weren’t right with him, see? Folks talkin’ ’bout him bein’ mentally ill. Don’t know what that means exactly, but sounds like his head weren’t screwed on right. Poor thing. Or maybe not so poor, considerin’ what he done.
They had a trial and all. Big to-do down at the courthouse in Spokane County. Lots of fancy talkin’ lawyers and judges. Heard tell they brought in witnesses, folks who knew him, knew the family. Must’ve been awful, havin’ to talk about such things in front of all them people.
And the jury, well, they found him guilty. Murder, they said. Two counts, one for his mama, one for his daddy. Second-degree, they called it. Don’t know what the difference is, murder is murder, I reckon. Then the judge, he sentenced him. Life in prison, they say. No chance of gettin’ out, ever. Locked up for good.
This happened a long time ago now, back in 2008 or so. Still, folks remember it. Hard to forget somethin’ like that. A boy killin’ his own parents. It just ain’t natural.
Some folks, they tried to get the judge to go easy on him. Lawyers, they call ’em, defense lawyers. Said he was young, said he was sick. Asked for leniency, they did. But the judge, he wouldn’t budge. Life sentence it was, and life sentence it stayed. Seems like justice was served, even though it’s a sad, sad story all around.
They arrested him quick, you know. Right after it happened. Took him down to the county jail. He was just a kid, barely an adult. And now he’s locked away, won’t see the light of day as a free man again. Makes you think, don’t it? About what goes on in people’s heads, about what makes them do the things they do.
Now, I heard somethin’ ’bout him winnin’ some golf thing before all this happened. A junior title, they called it. Maryland, that’s where it was. Guess he was good at somethin’. But it don’t matter now, does it? All that talent, all that potential, gone to waste.
They say he lived in a place called Pinewood Hills before movin’ up to Mount Spokane. Just a regular neighborhood, I guess. Makes you wonder if folks saw somethin’, knew somethin’ weren’t right. But mostly, folks just keep to themselves, don’t they? Mind their own business. Until somethin’ like this happens, and then everybody’s talkin’.
Twenty-four hours, that’s all it took for things to come crashing down. One minute he’s a student, next he’s a killer. Life can change that fast, you know. One bad decision, one moment of anger, and everything’s different. Forever. That poor Kim family, their lives just gone, like a puff of smoke in the wind.
So that’s the story of Bryan Kim, as best as I can tell it. A young fella who done somethin’ terrible. A tragedy for everyone involved. And a reminder that things ain’t always what they seem. Even in a quiet place like Mount Spokane, bad things can happen. The world’s a complicated place, that’s for sure.
Tags: Bryan Kim, Mount Spokane, Murder, Trial, Sentencing, 2008, High School, Mental Illness, Spokane County, Life Sentence, Pinewood Hills, Maryland, Golf
