Following an announce­ment that pros­e­cu­tors would not seek the death penal­ty for Naveed Haq, who is accused of killing one woman and wound­ing five oth­ers at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, two of Haq’s vic­tims said they sup­port­ed the deci­sion to seek a life sen­tence. ​“The death penal­ty most like­ly pro­mul­gates fur­ther vio­lence and revenge,” said Cheryl Stumbo, who was wound­ed in the attack. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng clas­si­fied it as ​“one of the most seri­ous crimes that has ever occurred in this city.” Layla Bush, who was also wound­ed by Haq dur­ing the July shoot­ing, not­ed that she believes life in prison will be a tougher pun­ish­ment than exe­cu­tion, adding, ​“I think this guy is some­one who could feel remorse in prison. Two wrongs don’t make a right.” 

Maleng decid­ed against seek­ing a death sen­tence because of Haq’s long his­to­ry of men­tal ill­ness. Haq’s acquain­tances say he strug­gles with bipo­lar dis­or­der, which is gen­er­al­ly char­ac­ter­ized by dras­tic mood swings. Haq’s defense attor­neys say their client has ​“exten­sive med­ica­tion and men­tal health issues” and has sought treat­ment from more than one place dur­ing the past ten years.

Haq’s tri­al is expect­ed to start by the end of 2007. Haq’s par­ents expressed shock about what hap­pened and offered con­do­lences and prayers for the vic­tims and their fam­i­lies.

(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 21, 2006). See New Voices, Victims, and Mental Illness.

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