CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: 18-year-old charged in Avalon 7-Eleven holdup

(Photos from charging documents)

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged a suspect in one of last year’s 7-Eleven robberies, the November 13 holdup at the Avalon 7-Eleven. 18-year-old Jason Lawrence, who’s been in jail since March, is charged with one count of first-degree robbery. The court documents allege he stole cash and tobacco products and that he displayed a gun during the holdup. And prosecutors say he already has a record:

The defendant – who was convicted of two counts of Robbery in the Second Degree in September 2024 in juvenile court – committed an armed robbery of a 7-Eleven with a juvenile subject on November 13, 2024. Despite being just eighteen years old, the defendant already has two cases pending in King County Superior Court. The defendant is charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the First Degree … for a November 23, 2024, incident. A bench warrant was issued in that case on March 5, 2025, after the defendant removed his EHD monitoring equipment. In addition, the defendant is charged with Possessing a Stolen Firearm, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, and two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the First Degree … for a March 12, 2025, incident. The defendant’s criminal history also includes a juvenile conviction for Attempting to Elude a Police Vehicle (2024).

The charging narrative says security video helped detectives identify Lawrence as one of the two armed people shown spending less than two minutes inside the store during the robbery. The charging documents go into extensive details about how, among other things, they matched the hoodie he was wearing with one seen in video related to a North Seattle robbery investigation that same day, in an area where police had seen him before. The detective writing the narrative goes on to say that police arrested Lawrence on March 12 on a warrant, after finding him in a stolen car; a search subsequently authorized by the car’s owner turned up a handgun that police say was taken “in a car prowl” a few days before the Avalon 7-Eleven holdup. (They also say the other person in the robbery video is a juvenile suspect who was arrested and charged with robbery in January – we’re looking into his status, to confirm whether that charge also was in the Avalon 7-Eleven case.) Lawrence remains in jail, with bail set at $370,000, the total from multiple cases on the docket including this one (we’re looking up the others).

13 Replies to "CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: 18-year-old charged in Avalon 7-Eleven holdup"

  • Mike April 21, 2025 (1:27 pm)

    What, they had a lengthy criminal background already? I am shocked.

    • KT April 21, 2025 (1:51 pm)

      I’m shocked he is being held!

    • GB April 21, 2025 (7:10 pm)

      Definitely not a shock since we don’t do anything to actually try to prevent crime or lower recidivism rates! 

  • Joan April 21, 2025 (2:18 pm)

    One bad dude, who doesn’t care if he’s caught. Parents?

  • Barry M April 21, 2025 (3:44 pm)

    I know this has been said a million times, but part of this ongoing issue lies at the feet of the activist judges that for some warped reason, think ALL people are redeemable and good. Truth is there are people in this world that just want to terrorize the rest of us. We have to stop allowing judges, who are just people… to keep letting these evil people the freedom to commit crimes at will. Cops do their jobs and arrest these guys. Judges need to put them in cells away from us. End this. 

    • Jeff April 21, 2025 (4:06 pm)

      And I will say again, judges do not set sentencing guidelines.   Talk to your legislators, they DO set sentencing guidelines.

      • Peter S. April 21, 2025 (6:15 pm)

        And I will say again, judges have considerable latitude to hand out sentences within the specified guidelines.  No-bail/low-bail/home-detention sentences are apparently insufficient to deter this kind of behavior.   For various reasons, It can literally take years for a case to go to trial.  Meanwhile, anyone out on bail or ignoring their home detention order is able to continue their anti-social behavior unabated, if they choose.  That’s one reason so many arrested have multiple previous arrests and charges.

         >> https://westseattleblog.com/2025/04/west-seattle-crime-watch-gunfire-investigation-near-walt-hundley-playfield&nbsp; <<

    • Sage K. April 21, 2025 (4:19 pm)

      I’m all for rehabilitation and prevention programs. But there also needs to be hard consequences when that doesn’t work.There are many contributing factors in society that lead to this type of criminal behavior. But what happens after being charged, doesn’t just fall at the judges feet ‘activist’ or not. Judges are bound by the laws of the state. A judge has limits on the bail range, sentencing range based on charge, etc.If you really want to do away with lighter sentencing it really starts with policy change and that’s done by the voting public,If you want to have harsher consequences you  need to change the laws and sentencing guides first, then the judges.But reduction in recidivism, starts in the community, with one of the biggest factors being wealth inequality and it’s trickle down effect.

      • Derek April 21, 2025 (5:54 pm)

        Sage, so does that mean he gets to do that (rehabilitation program) first since he hasn’t had a chance?

    • Insertname April 21, 2025 (7:07 pm)

      I agree with Barry 100%. Some people are just bad. It’s just the way it is. But unfortunately, we’re living in a society that has more compassion and sympathy for criminals rather than the victims. 

  • onion April 21, 2025 (4:01 pm)

    Another wasted life, unless he wakes up from his stupidity.

  • AJ April 21, 2025 (6:57 pm)

    I hope he was 18 when the crime was committed…….    He needs to be off the streets and kept in a prison.

  • YAY! April 22, 2025 (10:05 am)

    Very happy they got that guy! Good job SPD ❤️ 

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