Months after his capture, Army charges JBLM deserter with cabbie’s death, other crimes

TACOMA — An Army deserter from Joint Base Lewis McChord has been charged with the Jan. 15 death of Tumwater cab driver Nick Hokema, an Army spokesperson said Wednesday.

Pvt. Jonathan Kang Lee fled the base in January just as his court martial on child sex crimes was to begin. Hours later, Hokema was found dead in a Southcenter Mall parking lot, his taxi missing.

Lee was considered a suspect in the killing shortly after the homicide, sources told The News Tribune in January. On Tuesday, the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel charged Lee with the premeditated murder of Hokema, resisting arrest, desertion, wrongful use of a controlled substance and two counts of failure to obey a lawful order.

“The charges are merely allegations and Lee is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” said Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Fort Belvoir, Virginia-based Special Trial Counsel.

On Jan. 26, the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division and officers from Tukwila Police Department’s major crimes unit arrested Lee in Redmond on desertion charges.

While he was a deserter, Lee was tried in absentia for the child sex crimes and found guilty.

“Lee is currently in confinement at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., serving a 64-year sentence for felony sexual assault offenses,” McCaskill said.

Lee’s assigned counsel did not immediately return a request for comment from The News Tribune.