King County prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Qyreek Singletary to 10½ years in prison for an attack inside a woman's Capitol Hill apartment nearly five years ago. The recommendation calls for 126 months of total confinement, with concurrent sentences and a mandatory weapon enhancement tacked on. Both sides reached the agreement that is now before the court.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed Oct. 29 and reported by KOMO News, prosecutors and the defense agreed on the proposed terms: concurrent sentences of 17 months for rape, 41 months for burglary and 120 months for assault, followed by a mandatory six-month weapon enhancement. Singletary pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to third-degree rape with a deadly weapon, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault.
How the Attack Unfolded
The attack happened Dec. 30, 2021, after the woman returned to her Seattle apartment and Singletary approached her, asking about vacancies in the building, the memorandum states. He then forced his way inside, covered her mouth and threatened her with a knife, per the same account.
The woman's father was on the phone with her at the time, and he heard the struggle and called 911, the memorandum says. Officers arrived quickly, and Singletary fled through a back door before being detained nearby.
No Known Criminal History
The memorandum says Singletary did not have a known criminal history before the attack. The proposed sentence, as outlined in the document, also includes sex offender registration and community custody after he is released from prison.
The case drew attention at the time within a broader pattern of reported sexual assaults across Seattle. Seattle police investigated 252 rapes in 2021, an 11% drop from the previous year, according to Capitol Hill Seattle, which also reported that 46 of those investigated rapes, around 18%, were reported in the East Precinct covering Capitol Hill and the Central District. Reported rapes in the city had spiked to 382 cases in 2019, up from 170 reported sexual assaults in 2014, the outlet noted.
King County's Sexual Assault Unit filed 341 felony cases in 2021, down from 362 in 2020 and 379 in 2019, the station's report on the case noted.
