Bellingham man accused of murder for 2022 shooting death charged in separate shooting case
A Bellingham man accused of shooting and killing a woman in a stairwell in February 2022 is now facing charges for an unrelated shooting that occurred roughly five months prior and injured one.
Shilo Aron Englert, 35, was charged Feb. 1 in Whatcom County Superior Court with first-degree assault, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree robbery and second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission. Both the assault and robbery charges carry a firearm enhancement that alleges Englert committed the crimes while armed with a firearm, according to court records. If convicted of the enhancements, Englert will face additional mandatory prison time, including up to life in prison without the possibility of parole, court records show.
Englert’s arraignment, which was scheduled to take place Friday morning, Feb. 23, was pushed one week because his defense attorney was unavailable. His arraignment will now take place on March 1.
Englert is facing charges in five additional cases in Superior Court, including a second-degree murder charge.
In that case, Englert is accused of fatally shooting 31-year-old Kasaundra Booker in the head on Feb. 8, 2022. Booker’s body was found in a first-floor stairwell at 22 North, a 40-unit apartment complex on North State Street for young adults experiencing homelessness operated by the Opportunity Council and Northwest Youth Services.
A bullet of unknown caliber was found at the scene with Booker’s body. No handgun was located, court records state.
Englert has been incarcerated in the Whatcom County Jail since his arrest on Feb. 20, 2022 for the alleged murder. His bail is currently set at $1 million in the murder case, court documents show.
The Bellingham Herald has reached out to Englert’s defense attorney for comment and additional information.
New charges
Shortly before 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 23, 2021, Bellingham police responded to the 2800 block of Cottonwood Ave. in the Birchwood neighborhood after a woman called 911 to report her husband had been shot after attempting to stop a suspected theft.
When law enforcement arrived, they contacted a man who was suffering from a gunshot wound to his left leg. The man was later taken by ambulance to PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham, where he was treated for his injuries, according to court records.
The victim told police that he confronted a man, later identified as Englert, after he allegedly saw Englert stealing boxed items that the victim was storing on his patio outside his apartment.
The victim told police he approached Englert in the apartment complex parking lot and told him to leave. The man told police he was worried that Englert was going to break into his truck, which was parked nearby.
The victim ran back to his apartment, grabbed a baseball bat, and went back to the parking lot, where he found Englert “still milling about,” court documents state.
The victim again told Englert to leave the area. The man turned away from Englert briefly, before turning back around to face Englert. The victim told police that when he turned back to face Englert, Englert had a gun and shot him in the leg, according to court records.
Englert fled the scene, but police found a 2010 Hyundai Elantra parked nearby, still running, with the keys in the ignition.
Bellingham police later received an anonymous tip that said Englert took the Hyundai Elantra from its owner without permission the morning of the shooting.
The tip went on to say that Englert was in the area of Cottonwood Avenue with the vehicle when Englert saw a woman who had several boxes and asked him to help her. Englert allegedly got out and helped the woman carry the boxes, according to court records.
The tip stated that a man came out and asked Englert why he was stealing his things. Englert allegedly told the man that a woman had asked if he could help her. The man calmed down and told Englert that if what Englert was telling him was true “then he would go after the b****,” according to court records.
Englert responded, but the man allegedly misinterpreted and thought Englert was calling him a name. The tip then stated that the man ran at Englert with a bat, and that Englert got scared, pulled out a gun and “pulled the trigger in self-defense,” before running away, court documents state.
The date the tip was received by Bellingham police is not listed in court documents.
Bellingham police then contacted the owner of the Hyundai Elantra on Jan. 24, 2024. The owner told police that she was staying at a motel in Ferndale in late August 2021 and when she awoke, her vehicle was missing.
The woman told police that Englert showed up at the hotel later without the vehicle. Englert allegedly told the woman that he was helping a woman move boxes when a man with a bat charged at him. Englert told the woman he shot the man with the bat, and that he’d left the woman’s car parked with the keys in it, according to court records.
The woman told police that Englert’s story didn’t make sense and that she got the impression that he was out stealing from people, according to court documents.
Bellingham police later served a search warrant on the woman’s vehicle and found some of the boxed items taken from the shooting victim’s patio. A forklift operator’s license in Englert’s name was also found in the vehicle, according to court records.
When asked Friday why charges in the case were being filed now when the incident occurred in 2021, Whatcom County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erik Sigmar, who is prosecuting Englert’s cases, declined to comment.
The Herald has reached out to Bellingham police for more information.
Timeline of cases
Englert’s new charges are part of a roughly 10-month crime spree, in which Englert is accused of stealing multiple vehicles and shooting two people, one fatally.
▪ May 25, 2021: Englert is accused of failing to stop a vehicle he was driving. Englert parked the vehicle in the 1000 block of North Forest Street and then fled the scene. Englert was not located at the time.
The vehicle’s owner told Bellingham police he had sold the vehicle to Englert. Search warrants served on the vehicle revealed a firearm and drug kit in the trunk of the car. The drug kit contained .33 grams of an unknown greenish powder, two suspected ecstasy pills, one “hulk” bar suspected to be fentanyl, 66 fentanyl pills, 18.49 grams of suspected heroin, 2.4 grams of suspected meth and numerous small drug bags.
Englert was determined to be the driver of the vehicle who fled from police after pieces of mail and other items tied to Englert were found in the vehicle, according to court records.
Englert was formally charged Aug. 16, 2023 in Superior Court with first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and failure to obey law enforcement.
Englert is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms, court documents show.
▪ Aug. 23, 2021: Englert is accused of shooting and injuring a man in the Birchwood neighborhood after the man confronted Englert about stealing items from his apartment patio.
Englert is also accused of stealing a woman’s vehicle that same morning and abandoning the vehicle shortly after the shooting, court documents state.
Englert was identified as a suspect in the shooting and car theft after Bellingham police received an anonymous tip regarding the incident.
Englert was formally charged Feb. 8, 2024 in Superior Court with first-degree assault, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree robbery and second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission. The assault and robbery charges both carry firearm enhancements, court records show.
▪ Jan. 18, 2022: Englert is accused of driving a stolen vehicle over a retaining wall in the 1400 block of Lincoln Street and fleeing from police.
A K-9 unit was used to track Englert, who was found in the 1000 block of Potter Street, and identified as the driver of the stolen vehicle, according to court records.
Englert’s license was suspended at the time of the incident, court documents state.
Englert was formally charged Jan. 20, 2022 in Superior Court with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, obstructing and hit and run (property damage).
Englert was booked into the Whatcom County Jail shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2022. He was released the same day shortly before 10:30 p.m. after a $450 cash alternative bond was paid for him, court and jail records show.
▪ Feb. 5, 2022: Bellingham police recovered a stolen vehicle in a parking lot in the 1400 block of Lincoln Street.
Several pieces of evidence were collected from the vehicle in an attempt to identify a suspect. Two firearms, a shotgun and a rifle, were found in the vehicle.
Two metal tools were also found on the passenger-side floor. A crime scene investigator with Bellingham police photographed a fingerprint found on the larger of the two metal tools.
Two months later, on April 4, 2022, a separate crime scene investigator with Bellingham police processed the photographs of the fingerprint. The fingerprint returned as a match to Englert, according to court records.
Englert was identified as the suspect in possession of the stolen vehicle by the fingerprint match, and because the vehicle was parked outside of Englert’s residence.
Englert had also allegedly been contacted in and around stolen vehicles “numerous times” within the past year, the court documents state.
Englert was formally charged April 8, 2022 in Superior Court with possession of a stolen vehicle.
▪ Feb. 8, 2022: Englert is accused of shooting and killing 31-year-old Kasaundra Booker in the first-floor stairwell of 22 North in downtown Bellingham.
Surveillance video reviewed by Bellingham police detectives showed a man, later identified as Englert, arrived at the apartment complex building at 8:25 p.m. in a beige Lexus sedan with distinctive body damage.
Englert and Booker can be seen on surveillance video speaking on the sidewalk in front of 22 North, The Herald previously reported.
Three minutes later, an unidentified woman got out of the vehicle Englert was driving and assaulted Booker, before getting back into the sedan.
At 8:34 p.m., Englert, Booker and a female witness entered the first-floor stairwell where the three smoked “blues”, or fentanyl pills.
The witness told police she left Englert and Booker alone in the stairwell at 8:42 p.m., believing that the two were going to be intimate, court documents state.
At 8:53 p.m., Booker left the stairwell and walked toward the front door. She was seen on surveillance video raising her hands up and down and looking in the direction of the sedan Englert had arrived in. Booker then went back into the stairwell.
No one else was seen entering the stairwell after her, the court records state.
Twenty-five minutes later, at 9:18 p.m., Englert walked to the second-floor landing of 22 North and exited into the alley behind the building. He was seen on surveillance video with his hands in his pockets and used a sleeve to cover his hand to push open the door in what police believe was an attempt to keep from leaving fingerprints or DNA evidence at the scene, court documents state.
Englert walked through an alley and along North State Street before getting into the sedan and driving away from 22 North.
Booker’s body was then found in the stairwell by a separate witness at 9:28 p.m. and 911 was called.
Englert was formally charged Feb. 11, 2022 in Superior Court with second-degree murder. A warrant was put out for his arrest the same day, court records show.
He was arrested Feb. 20 by Bellingham police’s SWAT team in the 1400 block of Moore Street after police received a credible tip about where Englert was hiding, The Herald previously reported.
All five of Englert’s cases in Whatcom County Superior Court are currently pending.
Englert has pleaded not guilty in four out of five of the cases. His arraignment for the August 2021 shooting case, in which he’s expected to enter a not guilty plea to the charges, is scheduled to take place on March 1.
