Off-Duty Guard Sentenced to 25+ Years for Killing Teen Returning BB Gun in Renton

Aaron Brown Myers, 52, was sentenced to over 25 years in prison for shooting 17-year-old Hazrat Ali Rohani outside a Renton, WA sporting goods store in 2024.

Washington man sentenced to 25 years for killing teen outside sporting goods store

An off-duty security guard from Washington state was sentenced Wednesday to more than 25 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy who was returning a BB gun to a store — not committing a robbery, as the gunman had assumed.

Aaron Brown Myers, 52, was convicted in May of second-degree murder and assault in connection with the June 2024 death of Hazrat Ali Rohani outside a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Renton, a suburb of Seattle. Law & Crime reports that King County court records confirm the sentence of more than 25 years behind bars.

Myers had been sitting in his car waiting for his son to finish a martial arts class when he spotted Rohani and two other teenagers carrying what he believed to be a Glock handgun, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by The Associated Press. He assumed the teens were about to rob the store.

Prosecutors said the teens were in fact returning a malfunctioning BB gun. Myers, armed with a real Glock, exited his vehicle, ran toward the group, and held them at gunpoint.

King County Prosecutor Elaine Lee told jurors that the boys repeatedly told Myers the gun was not real. "The defendant, Aaron Myers, made decisions based purely on assumptions," Lee said, according to NBC affiliate KING. "He took one look at these boys walking toward Big 5, carrying a BB gun, and immediately labeled them as criminals."

Rohani, who went by Ali, dropped the BB gun and raised his hands. When he turned to walk away, Myers opened fire.

"Mr. Myers decided to shoot him once, twice, over and over and over, continuing to shoot as Ali fell to his knees and hands, continuing to shoot as Ali fell face down to the ground," Lee said Wednesday. Myers fired 10 rounds in total, with seven shots striking Ali in the center of his back, Lee added.

At the sentencing, the victim's father, Jammaludin Rohani, addressed the court. "I and my family have forgotten how to love, how to smile, how to have fun, and how to live a life like everyone else around us," he said, according to a courtroom report from ABC affiliate KOMO. "All of these are taken from us by someone who does not deserve to walk our streets with a firearm and evil intentions."

Myers' defense attorney, Mark Middaugh, argued during trial that his client "needed to act" based on what he observed, and that the BB gun appeared realistic. "He didn't want anyone to get hurt," Middaugh said. "The reason he got out of his car is he was trying to prevent violence." Middaugh requested an eight-year sentence at Wednesday's hearing.

Prosecutor Lee called that request "extremely offensive." Jurors rejected the defense argument entirely and sided with the prosecution.

Source: Law & Crime