Major Crimes Detectives Charge Juvenile with 3 Counts of Attempted Murder 1st Degree
On Friday, January 18, 2019, Spokane Valley Major Crimes Detective Darin Staley charged a 16-year-old male suspect with 3 counts of Attempted Murder 1st Degree. The charges are a result of a months-long investigation into a shooting at the Maverik gas station, located at 9009 E. Montgomery in Spokane Valley, last August.
Through the investigation, Detectives learned on August 23, 2018, the adult male driver of the victim vehicle apparently arranged to sell Marijuana to a male, later identified as the suspect, via his Facebook Messenger (FM) account. The victim enabled his FM location, allowing the suspect to track his location, as he drove to the meeting in N. Spokane. An adult male passenger and a juvenile female passenger rode with the victim.
Once he arrived at the location, a teenage male approached the victim’s vehicle and passed $100 through the window to the victim. The victim, never having any Marijuana to sell, fled the parking lot with the money.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., the victim, with his two passengers still inside the vehicle, pulled into the parking lot of the Maverik station and parked. Before they had a chance to exit the vehicle, a gray colored Volvo quickly pulled into the parking lot. The passenger of the Volvo, identified as the suspect, jumped out of the vehicle and began shooting at the victim and his passengers. A bullet struck the passenger’s side window, exploding the glass. The victim put the car in reverse, backed up and fled the parking lot, as the suspect continued to fire at his vehicle. The victim later realized, he had left his FB location feature on which gave the suspect the ability to track him to the Maverik.
Responding Deputies began the investigation and located four spent .380 caliber casings in the parking lot. Fortunately, none of the occupants inside the vehicle, or uninvolved citizens in the area, were struck by bullets during the shooting.
The next day, Detective Staley contacted the victim and conducted another interview. He noted the vehicle’s passenger side window was shattered and he located what appeared to be a bullet strike to the heater control on the dash, one to the hood of the vehicle, one to the front fender, the windshield and another to the passenger’s side windshield wiper. He recovered a bullet which was lodged in the heater control.
The investigation continued as Detective Staley conducted interviews, processed evidence and positively identified the suspect.
On January 18, 2019, Detective Staley contacted the juvenile suspect, who was already booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center on unrelated charges. During the interview, the suspect became nervous, denied any involvement and requested an attorney.
Detective Staley informed the juvenile suspect he was being charged with 3 counts of Attempted Murder 1st Degree stemming from this incident and concluded the contact.
The investigation into this incident is ongoing.