16-year-old arrested in connection with murder of Federal Way teenager

After months of investigating, a 16-year-old male was arrested in connection with the death of Nena Edmonds in Federal Way.

Edmonds, 18, was killed outside of a Federal Way apartment complex on Feb. 13.

On Wednesday, after more than six months of investigating by the Federal Way Police Department, the 16-year-old suspect was arrested in Issaquah.

The suspect was 15 at the time of the crime.

A second suspect was also identified in connection with the homicide, but they were already in custody on unrelated charges. That suspect is currently 19 years old.

Family, neighbors speak out over Edmonds’ death

Nena Edmonds’ body was found outside of her apartment, located on S.W. Campus Drive, at the bottom of a staircase.

“She died at our house. That’s where she is supposed to be safe. I dropped her off at home, thinking she would be safe, but she wasn’t,” Trinity Edmonds, Nena’s sister, told KIRO 7. “She was at the bottom of the stairs, but it happened inside, so she was fighting for her life.”

Trinity described her younger sister as energetic and bubbly.

According to Trinity, Nena had just finished her first day at work at The Home Depot when she was killed. She got the job to help support her mother. She had aspirations of serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“She was trying to progress as a person. She didn’t get a chance. She didn’t get a chance to drive her first car,” Trinity said. “She never even got to travel. She never got to see more of the world. She never got to have kids. She never got to graduate.”

A GoFundMe, verified by KIRO 7, has been created to help the family.

Contributing: KIRO 7

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