30% of Benton Co. homicides unsolved after 2nd highest number for deaths in years
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The number of homicides in Benton County dropped last year, but it was still the second most deadly year since 2008.
In all, 14 people were killed.
Only 2022, which had 19 homicides, topped it, according to the coroner records.
Franklin County remains at the same cadence as recent years. There were four homicides, including the death of Estela Torres Rodriguez, whose remains were found in 2023, four years after she disappeared.
That was one fewer than the previous year.
While the homicides in Benton County dropped slightly, putting it in line with national trends, the number of homicides remains more than twice as high as it was before 2021 when the annual rate was about seven.
Of those 14 deaths in 2023, five remain unsolved, three were tied to domestic violence and at least two had ties to gangs. One was an officer-involved shooting.
Nearly two-thirds of the slayings happened in Kennewick, and most of the deaths were in the second half of the year. That included a double murder of two newlyweds, a therapist who killed his girlfriend, a pastor gunned down in front of his home and a father shot by his pharmacist brother-in-law.
Benton County doesn’t consider car crashes as homicides, even if someone is facing legal issues. They are classified as accidents.
Other deaths that didn’t fall under homicide included a 4-year-old who died after the child ingested fentanyl while her parents were allegedly in the bathroom of a hotel using drugs. Both parents have been charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Other forms of violent crime across the Tri-Cities have dropped from highs in 2022 to average numbers in 2023, according to police chiefs.
Benton County 2023 homicides
January
▪ Jarrod Yockey, 51, was shot during a fight inside of a Richland home on McMurray Avenue on Jan. 26. Police discovered his body after two people ran into the street, bleeding from gunshot wounds and alerted passing drivers. Investigators later learned Yockey had come to the house with the two other people.
A Richland couple, Lara Garcia, 29, and Michael Reep, 29, were charged in connection with the shooting. Garcia faces two counts of first-degree assault, and Reep is accused of illegally possessing a firearm. But neither of them are accused of killing Yockey.
The only person who saw Yockey get shot was the homeowner’s son, who told investigators he was getting beaten up by the man when he saw Reep holding a pistol. He then heard a gunshot and saw Yockey die, according to court documents.
2nd suspect connected to Richland shooting brought back in Benton County
March
▪ Ezquiliel “Chico” Martinez, 47, of Pasco, was discovered in an empty lot near a storage business at the corner of East 10th Avenue and East Yew Street east of Kennewick about 6:30 p.m. on March 14.
An autopsy found he was killed, but the Benton County Sheriff’s Office has not shared how. The last place a witness saw him alive was around A Street and 18th Avenue in Pasco. It’s unclear how long it was between then and when he died.
No one has been arrested in connection with his death.
ID released for homicide victim found dead near storage facility in east Kennewick
May
▪ Edree D’Love Thompson, 20, was shot in Richland’s Columbia Park Apartments on May 19. Court records state that Thompson had gone to the apartment complex to help a friend get her children.
Thompson allegedly encountered a group of people outside of the apartment complex and an argument broke out. Antoine Surge, 43, allegedly came up behind Thompson with a gun. The gun was knocked out of Surge’s hand and went off. The older man then chased Thompson.
He was shot several times and taken to a local hospital where he died a short time later on May 20.
Surge was arrested on May 30 in Ellensburg. He has been charged with second-degree murder and illegally possessing a gun. He is being held in the Benton County jail in lieu of $5 million bail.
UPDATE | Convicted Seattle murderer arrested on $5M warrant for a Tri-Cities murder
▪ Terry Barnhart, 32, was run down by a car on the 2600 block of West Fourth Avenue in Kennewick on May 20 where he died.
Police responded to calls about a bleeding man on the sidewalk about 4 a.m.
It’s believed the person who hit him did it intentionally, Benton County Coroner Bill Leach said.
No one has been arrested in the case.
Man dies after hit and run in Tri-Cities. The bicycle he may have been riding is missing
June
▪ Jeffrey G. Reeder, 31, was shot and killed by Deputy Elias Perez following a chase through Richland and Kennewick on June 4. Reeder was allegedly been tied to a string of car thefts throughout the Tri-Cities. Police caught up to the Audi he was driving and chased it before he crashed near Columbia Center mall.
Reeder was allegedly trying to steal another car at gunpoint when Perez caught up with him and shot him, according to a Regional Special Investigations Unit report.
The unit is continuing its investigation to determine if Perez was justified in using lethal force.
More details released on man killed by deputy during Tri-Cities gunpoint carjacking
▪ Jesus Contreras Chacon, 20, of Yakima, died during a gang-related gun battle between friendly gang members.
Investigators believe Ruben Marin, 23, allegedly went to a graduation party in Benton City on June 10. He allegedly opened fire into a garage crowded with teens and young adults, hitting five teenagers.
One person in the garage, Elijah Mykale Cruze, 21, allegedly fired as Marin and Contreras Chacon were fleeing in a car. The 20-year-old man was shot and died. Police say Cruze and Marin belonged to the same gang.
Cruze is charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held without bail.
Marin is charged with five counts of first-degree assault and a warrant was issued for his arrest, but he’s also facing an unrelated second-degree murder charge in Yakima.
Tri-Cities judge denies bail for 20-year-old charged with killing member of his own gang
July
▪ Therapist Jenna Olafson, 38, was killed at the El Rancho Reata home she shared with her mother and boyfriend, according to court documents.
Investigators didn’t say why her therapist boyfriend Michael T. Smith, 38, allegedly strangled her before leaving her body on the back patio of the home south of Richland, according to court documents.
Smith then allegedly tried to die by suicide.
Olafson’s body was discovered by family members, and Tri-City Regional SWAT team members and deputies eventually got him to come outside.
He is charged with second-degree murder.
Tri-Cities counselor accused of murder needs to hire attorney. He still hasn’t
▪ Brayden Klatt, 25, was shot and killed inside of a Huntington Street home in Kennewick on July 23. Investigators believe his girlfriend, Shayla D. Shearer, 36, pointed a .380 Ruger pistol at his head before pulling the trigger twice in the bedroom.
Shearer claimed the gun accidentally went off. She is charged with second-degree murder.
Tri-Cities woman says she shot her boyfriend by accident. Police say it was murder
August
▪ Daniel Bueno, 36, was shot outside of a home on in Kennewick on Aug. 5. Neighbors reported hearing a gunshot about 9:45 p.m. near the intersection with South Conway Street.
When they arrived, they discovered the former football coach and father of two wounded. He died at the hospital.
No arrests have been made in connection with his death.
Former football coach and a father of 2 died within days of each other in Tri-Cities
September
▪ Arthur Amaya, 40, was shot outside of his apartment on Tweedt Street in Kennewick on Sept. 17. The father had a heated exchange with some gang members before he was shot by one of them.
Amaya, a Pasco bus driver, was a deeply religious man who had spent time ministering to gang members.
No one has been arrested in connection with his slaying.
Tri-Cities school bus driver ministered to gang members before he was killed by them
▪ Nabil Mohamed, 66, and Hifza Khan, 63, were shot to death in their home at 2809 Dawes Street in Kennewick. Mohamed’s son, Zuhaib, 26, also was dead.
They were found Oct. 17 but Khan’s out-of-town daughters believe their mom and her new husband died on Sept. 21 because that’s the last time they heard from her.
While police tried checking on the couple several times, they got no response at the door and Zuhaib resisted any investigation by police.
After nearly a month, police were able to develop a case to enter the home to find Zuhaib had died by suicide and that Mohamed and Khan had been shot in the head earlier.
Khan’s daughters say the reason for their deaths remains a mystery.
Tri-Cities newlyweds were likely dead for weeks while an adult son lied to family, friends
December
▪ Travis Kitchen, 48, died after his brother-in-law Adam P. Klei, 44, shot him during a confrontation on Dec. 4.
According to police, Klei had been under investigation for a crime that detectives have yet to release information about.
Kitchen, a father of five, was married to Klei’s sister. She was in the process of getting a divorce, according to court documents.
After the shooting, Klei, a pharmacist, ran from the scene, and became the focus of a manhunt. Police found him in a canyon and tried talking him into surrendering but they said he shot himself before he could be arrested.
Murder-suicide of a brother-in-law and a pharmacist rocks Tri-Cities. What we know
▪ Juan Belloso, 36, was shot on Dec. 21 in the driveway of his home on the 200 block of South Vancouver Street in Kennewick.
When officers arrived, they found him severely wounded. He was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland where he later died. Investigators believe he knew the shooter.
No one has been arrested in his death.
36-year-old man is dead. He was found shot in his Kennewick driveway
Franklin County 2023 homicides
February
▪ A 23-year-old Pendleton man, Jesus Diamond Lamberson, is facing trial for second-degree murder in the shooting death of his cousin at a Pasco home on Feb. 21.
Macario Silva-Gutierrez died four days after he was shot during an argument, say court documents.
An Oregon man killed his Pasco cousin. He says he was threatened
July
▪ After a four-year search a tip led investigators to the shallow grave of a mother of nine, Estela Torres Rodriguez, about five miles outside of Connell. The 54-year-old disappeared in March 2019.
While her estranged husband and son were charged with killing her, investigators were never able to find her body.
Tiburcio Larios Rodriguez remains on the run and is believed to be in Mexico.
Their son Clemente Rodriguez Torres was caught returning to the U.S. from Mexico in September 2019. Last year, he pleaded guilty to first-degree rendering criminal assistance and was released from the Franklin County jail, having already served more time than his official sentence.
4 years after a grandmother vanished, her body is found in a shallow Eastern WA grave
▪ Elisa Ramos, 39, was stabbed to death in her apartment at a newly opened Catholic Charities building in Pasco.
The Bishop Skylstad Commons complex, a first of its kind for the Tri-Cities, houses people struggling with chronic homelessness.
Reymundo Carrillo-Bojorgez, 28, is charged with premeditated first-degree murder.
It appeared the two may have been living together when she died. But it’s unclear what their relationship was.
$1M bail set for suspect after gruesome discovery at Tri-Cities homeless housing project
October
▪ Huber Perez-Morales, 24, of Basin City, was found dead in front of his home on Oct. 22 after someone called 911.
No one has been arrested by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and no other information has been released.
Perez-Morales worked as a roofer.
Basin City man found dead in front of his home. Franklin deputies searching for clues
