Christmas Day 2020 saw a man shot to death in Delray Beach. Here's how the gunman will pay
WEST PALM BEACH — A judge has sentenced a man accused in the Delray Beach Christmas Day homicide in 2020 to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday, Nov. 7, to criminal charges in multiple cases.
Bakari Kyon Washington entered pleas to charges of manslaughter and felony possession of a firearm in the shooting death of 21-year-old Sebastien Theodule in the parking lot of a shopping center at Congress Avenue and Linton Boulevard.
Multiple witnesses told investigators Washington, now 25, exited a vehicle occupied by two other people and shot Theodule in the head. Theodule died two days after the attack.
A judge in November 2023 placed a second defendant, Rodrice Sonson, on 10 years probation after he pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Delray Beach police said Sonson acted as the getaway driver in the Christmas Day shooting.
One witness alleged to police that Washington and Theodule were part of different cliques and that Washington may have believed Theodule's group was involved in a shooting outside his grandmother's home.
During a hearing Thursday at The Palm Beach County Courthouse, Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe sentenced Washington in the separate cases, ordering that his other prison terms ranging from 5 years to 15 years be served concurrently with the manslaughter plea.
She credited Washington with three years, nine months and 23 days of time served in the Palm Beach County Jail.
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Washington pleaded guilty to two additional counts of felony possession of a firearm and one count of attempting to flee or elude law enforcement.
Weeks after the Delray Beach homicide, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies assisting with a search warrant for a residence in Lantana found Washington in possession of a stolen firearm, according to court records.
He also pleaded guilty to four counts of unemployment compensation fraud, one count of organizing a scheme to defraud and one count of unlawful use of a two-way device.
In that case, investigators said Washington fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits in multiple states through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security — or CARES — Act passed in March 2020.
Between June 2020 and January 2021, Washington claimed residences in Kansas, California, Arizona and Nevada, successfully receiving an $8,004 payment from the state of Arizona, investigators said.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at . Help support our work: Subscribe today.
