Seattle murder suspect captured in Missouri after mistaken California jail release fueled months-long manhunt

Seattle, Washington – A homicide case that began with gunfire in Seattle and stretched across state lines took a major turn this week after federal authorities captured a suspect who had slipped away months earlier because of a jail error.

The U.S. Marshals Service said it arrested 20-year-old Isaiah Andrews on April 1 in St. Louis, Missouri, bringing an end to a long search that began after he was mistakenly released from custody in California. Officials said Andrews had been wanted in connection with a Seattle killing and is now expected to be returned to Washington to face a first-degree murder warrant.

The case traces back to October 15, 2025, when Seattle police responded to reports of a shooting in the 2100 block of North Northgate Way. Officers arrived shortly after 4:50 p.m. and found a 20-year-old man in a hotel parking lot with a gunshot wound to the chest. Police and firefighters tried to save him, but he died at the scene. Investigators later identified the victim as Theodore Wheeler.

As detectives from Seattle’s Homicide Unit worked through the case, they linked Andrews to the shooting. A few days later, on October 18, law enforcement agencies in Contra Costa County, California, located and arrested him in Antioch after a vehicle pursuit involving the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office as well as police departments in Antioch and Pittsburg. He was booked into the Contra Costa County Jail on a temporary felony warrant tied to the Seattle homicide investigation.

But what seemed like a decisive break in the case quickly unraveled. Just three days after his arrest, jail staff mistakenly released Andrews, according to officials. From that point on, he remained out of reach, turning a murder investigation into a multi-state manhunt.

That search ended without violence, authorities said, when U.S. Marshals found and arrested him in Missouri. He is now set to be extradited back to Seattle, where he is expected to be booked into King County Jail in connection with the killing.

Seattle police have previously asked anyone with information about the Northgate shooting to contact the Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. More details about the original case can be found through the Seattle Police Department, while case updates involving federal fugitive operations are handled by the U.S. Marshals Service.