The January 26, 2024 murder of 67-year-old Yuam Ming outside a Seattle Costco store triggered an international manhunt that would span two continents and culminate in a quiet Nairobi suburb seventeen months later.
Salman Subeyr Haji, a US national with multiple aliases, thought he had found sanctuary in Kenya’s bustling capital.
For nearly a year and a half, he lived under the radar in Mkuu Apartments in Komarock, Embakasi—an unremarkable residential complex that became the final stop in his flight from American justice.
How it all started
The deadly sequence began with what prosecutors describe as a calculated crime spree.
Haji and his alleged accomplice, Ilyis Abdi, had already carjacked a Porsche Cayenne at gunpoint from a Seattle woman when they spotted Ming and her sister Mingyong Huang loading groceries at the Tukwila Costco branch.
What followed was a brazen daylight robbery attempt that turned fatal.
As Ming’s sister settled into the driver’s seat, Haji allegedly jumped from the stolen Porsche and lunged for her purse.
When Ming tried to help her sister fight off the attacker, Haji pulled out a gun and shot her dead before fleeing in the luxury SUV.
The callousness didn’t end there.
The duo drove to another store where they used the Porsche owner’s stolen credit card to purchase gift cards, a common money laundering technique where criminals sell redemption codes to larger syndicates who then use them to buy goods for resale in other countries.
Seattle police had crucial evidence from the start.
CCTV footage from the gift card purchase provided clear images of both suspects, while forensic evidence tied them directly to the crime.
Haji’s fingerprints were found on the Porsche’s passenger door, and Abdi’s prints were discovered on the vehicle’s license plate.
The abandoned SUV was later found in a church parking lot.
But by the time investigators had assembled their case, Haji had vanished.
Intelligence leads to Kenya
Intelligence suggested he had fled to Kenya just five days after Ming’s murder, beginning what would become a complex international pursuit.
The FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force took the lead, working with Kenyan authorities through established extradition channels.
Haji’s multiple aliases including Salmon Subeyr Haji, Salman Hagi, and Markell Somo Jefferson initially complicated the investigation, creating confusion that likely bought him precious time.
For over a year, Haji maintained his freedom in Nairobi, choosing Komarock’s middle-class anonymity over the city’s more conspicuous neighborhoods.
The area, popular with young professionals and small business owners, provided perfect camouflage for someone trying to blend into urban Kenya’s diverse population.
His sanctuary ended on June 12, 2025, when officers from Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations surrounded his apartment building.
The arrest was swift and without incident, a testament to the methodical police work that had finally tracked him down.
Swift justice
Following his arrest, Haji was held at Gigiri police station for a week before being handed over to FBI agents on June 19.
The extradition process, sometimes lengthy and contentious, moved with unusual speed, suggesting strong cooperation between Kenyan and American authorities.
Back in Seattle, Haji pleaded not guilty to murder, two counts of robbery, and eluding police charges. A judge set his bail at $5 million (approx Sh646 million) a sum that reflects both the severity of the charges and the flight risk he represents.
He now awaits trial at King County Jail, the same facility where many international fugitives begin their journey through the American justice system.
US Attorney Tessa Gorman’s words in court captured the case’s broader significance: “This defendant needs to be held accountable.”
For Ming’s family and the Seattle community, accountability has been a long time coming, but the arrest in a Nairobi apartment complex proves that distance cannot indefinitely shield those who flee justice.
The case stands as a reminder that in an interconnected world, even the most carefully planned escapes eventually reach dead ends.
For Haji, that dead end was a modest apartment in Komarock, where his year-and-a-half journey from Seattle’s streets finally came to an end.
