Jury is out in case of Tri-Cities man suspected of killing an 18-year-old in his home

Three men broke into a Kennewick home in October 2018 with a plan to rob an 18-year-old of drugs and cash.

They ended up fleeing empty-handed, leaving Hunter Black dying from a gunshot wound to his stomach.

Now, its up to a jury to decide if Lawrence Isaiah Groce, 24, was the man holding the shotgun that killed the young father-to-be.

The week-long murder trial in Benton County Superior Court wrapped up on Wednesday with closing arguments.

Groce is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault in connection with the break-in and shooting. They all include aggravating circumstances of using a deadly weapon.

Deputy Prosecutors Julie Long and Brendan Siefken argued the evidence all points to Groce being one of three men who hatched a plan to bust into the Yelm Street home on Oct. 26, 2018.

That includes a confession to a girlfriend that they said helped link Groce to the then unsolved shooting, testimony from one of his co-conspirators, Wardell E. Braxton and his DNA found on the shotgun shell.

“There is no doubt in this case about the defendant’s guilt,” Siefken told the jurors.

But defense attorney James Curtis pointed out problems in the case, including why the prosecutor didn’t talk about a man with an accent who was initially named as a suspect and the testimony of a man who once lied to police.

Curtis called lead Detective Kirk Nebeker to the stand during his case to ask about the person Black’s girlfriend named as an initial attacker.

“Should that happen in our criminal justice system? No. Did it happen? Yes,” Curtis told jurors. “Who decides the consequences? You.”

Black’s shooting

Black and his girlfriend, Cynarra Scott-Sortor, were asleep when the light turned on and two masked men were standing over them and yelling.

The men were wearing masks over their faces and making demands of Hunter, who sold marijuana.

Scott-Sortor told the jury Hunter got up and moved toward a man holding a shotgun and then quickly fell to the ground.

Around the same time, one of their roommates, Johnathan Williams, came out of his room and confronted the men. He struggled with the gun and it fell to the floor.

Braxton already had left the house and the other two assailants ran from the home and got into a dark car and fled.

Police linked the shotgun to a Pasco woman, who was the grandmother of Kavonte “K.C.” Conley. She told police he kept the gun under his bed.

Along with tying Conley to the crime, investigators also linked Braxton to the shooting.

Washington State Patrol Crime Lab scientists described it as a surprisingly large amount of DNA. According to the laboratory, the DNA profile is 7.4 decillion times more likely to have come from Groce than a random individual. A decillion is a one followed by 33 zeroes.

They said they found Williams’ DNA on the gun.

Prosecutors noted that when Groce was questioned about the gun, he said he didn’t know that Conley had a shotgun.

Investigators received further confirmation from Groce’s then-girlfriend after he admitted in 2021 that he had killed Black, prosecutors said. The woman testified that initially she didn’t believe him, but soon learned there was a murder.

Braxton pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony at Groce’s trial. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

He told investigators that Conley and Groce went into the house, but initially didn’t admit he also went inside.

Problems in the case

Curtis argued to jurors that prosecutors left several details unexplained.

He noted that Scott-Sortor initially identified a possible suspect during interviews with police, and prosecutors never asked her about it. They never showed that there was any investigation of the man, who had a connection to Conley’s grandmother’s home.

“Why weren’t you presented with that?” Curtis said. “Don’t you deserve all of the information. So imagine a world where my client is convicted as being the shooter and later coming to find evidence that you weren’t presented with.”

He also pointed out that Braxton changed his story multiple times before testifying, and seemed to be inconsistent about previously buying drugs from Black.

Curtis argued that if Braxton was willing to lie once, he would be willing to continue lying.

Among the other evidence that Curtis noted was bloody footprints that a roommate left after stepping over Black’s body to grab a tote full of marijuana still in Black’s room before calling police.

He questioned whether Black could have been set up by his roommates.

He also said that Groce’s DNA could have been transferred to the shotgun shell at any time.

Long responded to Curtis’ criticisms by saying that those issues are just distractions to the main issues of the case.

“The defense counsel’s arguments are kind of like the items in that tote,” she said.

“A bunch of things just tossed in there and jumbled in there and mixed with the facts of this case to try and distract you with miscellaneous items that aren’t even relevant.”