Brent McDonald, far right, taught at nonprofit arts program Coyote Central for 11 years before he was shot in Belltown late last year.
Brent McDonald, far right, taught at nonprofit arts program Coyote Central for 11 years before he was shot in Belltown late last year. Photo courtesy of Carl Smool

The family of Brent McDonald, the 49-year-old artist-teacher who was shot to death in Belltown this past December, has arrived at some justice. Richard Roundtree, a 55-year-old man who had previously served prison time for having been convicted four times on cocaine delivery charges, has been convicted of McDonald's murder. He faces as many as 38 years in prison when he is sentenced on November 16.

Roundtree's defense tried to paint a portrait of McDonald as a man who acted aggressively towards Roundtree's girlfriend. But the surveillance footage of the shooting showed no physical or verbal altercation when McDonald walked past the two on Third Avenue between Lenora and Blanchard Streets.

When I spoke to McDonald's friends and family after the artist's death, they wondered if the shooting could have been a case of mistaken identity. McDonald was a beloved teacher at Coyote Central, where he worked with English-language learners and refugee children who called him "McDude."

Read our story on Brent, his life's work, and his family here.