Several issues here. Killing an on-duty US serviceman means prosecution by the Dept. of Justice on federal charges.
PROBLEM: Holder won’t do it. Has got to protect his “own.” Tried that crap with the Martin-Zimmerman case. Didn’t try Major Nidal/Ft. Hood massacre and Little Rock, Ark. Army recruiter killing as “acts of terrorism”.
Secondly. Does Washington State even have a death penalty? If so, when was the last time they used it, 1870s?
3. Black on white crime is no a story any editor wants to handle, esp. in the major cities with large black populations. Therefore, it is page 5 -Local Affairs and any coverage will drop between the trials and any convictions,sentencing. It isn’t called “A BlackOut” for nothing.
Washington State has the death penalty: hanging or lethal injection. What surprised me about this is that the local media actually called this a racially motivated crime. They interviewed the friends who were on the scene who said the the perps called them crackers, got out of their car and stabbed this soldier to death.