Seattle woman grieves dog that was shot, killed while roaming outside

A Seattle woman is grieving the death of her beloved dog after a man allegedly shot and killed her while she was roaming around outside last week.

However, FOX 13 has reported officers think another dog was the intended target.

According to charging documents from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO), the dog was going about its day in Lake City when owner Michelle Michaels heard loud gunshots.

She looked outside and and allegedly saw Magan Ahmednur Yussuf with a gun in his hand and her dog lying in the street bleeding.

FOX 13 stated Michaels rushed outside, screaming. Yussuf then allegedly told her the dog “came at him,” before walking away.

But charging documents report a witness said he didn’t notice the dog attack or act aggressively toward the man. He added Yussuf allegedly fired one shot at the dog and the dog fell to the ground.

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According to FOX 13, the woman carried Stevie back home but she had died by the time officers arrived.

Yussuf told officers he had been bitten but when officers checked for injuries, they didn’t find anything. Yussuf’s mother told officers the dog had terrorized Yussuf for 13 years but Stevie was only four years old and Michaels had moved to the neighborhood around three years ago, FOX 13 reported.

Michelle Michaels’ dog Stevie was shot and killed outside her Lake City home last week. (Photo courtesy the Port of Seattle)

Stevie flew all the way from the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar to Seattle in 2021, according to the Port of Seattle. The canine was an Arabian village dog who was rescued and brought to an animal shelter in Doha, Qatar’s capital city. The organization Fur Bae Rescue, which connects dogs from Qatar to the Pacific Northwest, brought Stevie to Michaels.

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Michaels was a volunteer with Fur Bae Rescue and fostered Stevie, who was under a year old, for a short period of time before falling in love with her. Michaels and her roommate then moved to a new house in Seattle with a bigger yard for their two dogs.

Documents from KCPAO confirm Yussuf was charged with animal cruelty. His next court date is scheduled for April 22.

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.