Convicted Murderer Allegedly Found Asleep With Gun In Seattle Hotel Lobby

A man on supervised release after serving more than a decade in prison for murder was arrested last week after being found asleep in a hotel lobby with a gun, the Seattle Police Department said.

Police said officers responded to the Levin Hotel in the South Lake Union neighborhood at around 8:43 a.m. on Nov. 13 after staff called 911 to report a man asleep in the lobby with a visible handgun in his waistband. According to the police report, officers arrived to find the suspect “sleeping and possibly intoxicated with a bottle of liquor next to him.”

The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Barry Lee Saunders Jr., was taken into custody without incident, and police recovered the gun, which allegedly did not have a serial number. They also recovered a full face mask.

Saunders is on active Department of Corrections supervision after serving time for a second-degree murder conviction, police said. He is prohibited from having guns, which violates his supervised release.

Saunders was booked into the King County Jail on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, according to charges filed Monday.

“Saunders said he carried a firearm for protection because he had previously been involved in some gang violence and was concerned about retaliation,” charging documents state.

In 2008, Saunders, 21 at the time, fatally shot 16-year-old Daiquan Jones and wounded another teen inside a shopping mall. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2011 and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.