Remembering the 25 people killed in 2023 in Spokane County

Jan. 27—In 2023, 25 people were killed in homicides in Spokane County that are under investigation as murder.

Here are the people who were killed in those cases:

January

Gael Wirth, 85, and her partner, 84-year-old Donald Wirth, were found dead Jan. 20 on a bed inside their Latah Valley Neighborhood home in what police called a murder-suicide, according to court documents and police.

Gael Wirth died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head while Donald Wirth died of one gunshot to the head, the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office said. The office ruled Gael Wirth's death a homicide and Donald Wirth's a suicide.

Police wrote in documents that a note on the front door of the home read, "COME IN AND GO INTO THE BEDROOM ON THE LEFT THEN CALL THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE ..." Police said the note listed two people's first and last names and their phone numbers.

February

Tyler Rowell, 17, was shot and killed and two others were injured in a "drug deal gone wrong" Feb. 8 in the East Central Neighborhood, court documents say.

Police arrested Hagen Charbonneau, 19; Gavin McGregor, 22; Sapphire B. Jespersen, 21; and Leland Westerland, 17. All are set for trial in May.

Deshaun Crawford, 40, was found with multiple gunshot wounds Feb. 8 on the floor inside a home on the western edge of Spokane Valley. Several people were inside the residence at the time and heard the gunshots, according to court documents.

Almost one year later, two men, 38-year-old Darell Harris and 46-year-old Dwayne Parks, were arrested in Western Washington for their alleged connection to the crime. Both are scheduled back in court next month.

Fatimah Alghazwi, 27, was found dead Feb. 9 in her apartment in the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood in northwest Spokane the day after officers responded to the residence over an incident with her ex-boyfriend.

Officers arrested the ex, Jean Kirkpatrick, 46, on suspicion of murder, according to court documents. He is scheduled for trial in March.

Skywalker Renion, 40, was shot and killed in north Spokane and then taken by two men to Elk, according to court records.

Renion's girlfriend told authorities she went to a Garland Avenue home with a friend and confronted two men. One of the men informed the woman he shot Renion because Renion was trying to rob him with a crowbar.

Both men confessed to hiding Renion's body and showed her and her friend where Renion's body was located, the girlfriend told police.

The girlfriend called 911 on Feb. 24, saying she discovered Renion's body in Elk.

Jason Jones, 48, and Chandler Andrews, 29, were charged on suspicion of murder and are awaiting trial in March.

Harold Kahoonei, 64, was chased and then struck in the head with a skateboard at a Spokane Transit Authority bus stop Feb. 19 and died at a hospital the next month.

A witness told police the sound of 20-year-old Shawn Shippy hitting Kahoonei was "so loud that it echoed from the nearby buildings," documents say. Kahoonei was motionless in the street but eventually stood up and got on a bus.

Kahoonei died March 5 at a hospital from complications of blunt force injuries of the head, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office. Hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and probable methamphetamine use were significant contributing factors to his death, the office wrote in court documents.

Police arrested Shippy in November and he is due back in court in February.

March

Joshua Vandouris, 39, was killed in a shooting that resulted in a vehicle rollover March 7 in north Spokane.

Police discovered Vandouris inside of the crashed vehicle in the 200 block of East Cleveland Avenue, police said. No one has been arrested.

Jennifer Jones, 40, and James Fisher, 50, were found dead March 7 in a Logan Neighborhood home in what police determined was a murder-suicide.

Jones died of blunt force injuries of the head, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office. Fisher died of "multidrug intoxication" and his death was ruled a suicide.

Nicholas Wright, 57, was found March 12 near High Bridge Park on a remote hillside between Inland Empire Way and West Sunset Boulevard, according to Spokane police.

Police believe Wright's death involved foul play. The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Wright's death a homicide. No arrests have been made.

Ellsworth Parslow, 39, was shot and killed March 28 at a west Spokane apartment after he and his father spent most of the day together, court documents say.

Parslow's father told police Parslow took two bags of food they had brought to the apartment, but he never returned.

He said he saw a relative of Parslow's girlfriend running down the stairs from Parslow's apartment. As the man passed the father, the man said, "They are fighting up there and I gotta leave," the father told police.

The father said he knew something bad happened because the man and Parslow never got along, and the man has said repeatedly in the past that he "was gonna shoot Ellsworth," according to documents.

Spokane police spokeswoman Julie Humphreys said police arrested a minor on suspicion of murder, but prosecutors declined to file charges against the juvenile.

April

Alvin Gallegos, 76, was found dead April 26 on the South Hill. The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office determined Gallegos died from stab wounds of the head and neck. It ruled the death a homicide.

No arrests have been made.

June

John Trendowicz, 63, was fatally stabbed June 10 at the Red Top Motel in Spokane Valley. He was found in the shower with multiple stab wounds to his arms, torso and neck.

Michael Perry, 49, was charged and convicted of murder — his second murder conviction — before a judge sentenced him in December to 35 years in prison.

"This sentence will promote respect for the law and give the pubic assurance you won't commit these acts against anyone else," Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tony Hazel said.

July

Darnell Pluff, a 26-year-old Coeur d'Alene Tribe member, was shot and killed . He was sitting near a coffee stand on 5226 N. Division St. when two men approached him, one of them firing a weapon and killing Pluff, court records say.

Jose Matthews, 42, has been charged with second-degree murder in his death. He is awaiting trial.

August

Rebecca Powelson, 33, was driving her 1990 blue Ford Ranger on U.S. Highway 2 on Aug. 2 near Chattaroy. Witnesses said Powelson and 46-year-old Paul Ainsworth, who was driving a 2013 Dodge Caravan, were driving nearly side by side when the passing lane ended.

Ainsworth slowed down and intentionally turned into the left rear of Powelson's truck, where it violently rolled and collided with a large boulder off the highway, court documents said.

Powelson was wearing her seatbelt at the time but was pronounced dead at the scene. Ainsworth has been charged with second-degree murder and vehicular homicide in relation to her death.

Jamie Weathers, 65, was beaten to death by two teens with a skateboard, police said. Justin Haylett, 19, and Quentyn Tyndale, 18, are accused of killing Weathers after they confronted him in an argument. They found him after the argument two blocks away and began hitting him in the head and kicking him while he was on the ground, court documents say.

Both teens have been charged with second-degree murder.

Shan Anderson, 44, was found dead near Wall Street and Railroad Avenue on Aug. 27 with more than a dozen stab wounds. According to detectives, it was a seemingly unprovoked assault.

Police arrested 46-year-old Steven P. White in connection to the killing.

September

Dennis Vezina, 41, was shot and killed in September while hanging around a Spokane Valley Jack in the Box.

He and his girlfriend, Stephanie Unangst, were sitting in the restaurant's parking lot around 3:30 p.m. when she heard a gunshot and saw a man she knew as "Jason" leave the area on a bicycle, she told police in court records.

When she turned around, she couldn't find her boyfriend, according to court documents. Deputies found Vezina in the lobby with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was pronounced dead.

Jason Barton, 46, was arrested nine hours after the shooting and has since been charged in connection to Vezina's death. His trial is set for February.

Devin Rowden, 32, and another man were shot after an argument and fight turned to a shooting Sept. 6 in north Spokane, according to court documents.

The man who was shot and injured, 24-year-old Saxxon McKinney, told police he was speaking with his friend, Rowden, when Abraham Evaristo-Valderas started arguing with them. The defendant and McKinney threw punches, McKinney told police, and Evaristo-Valderas fell to the ground.

McKinney told police the defendant shot him while McKinney was standing over him.

Evaristo-Valderas claimed self-defense and that he and Rowden were friends.

Later that day, Evaristo-Valderas was accused of shooting and injuring a different 24-year-old man in downtown Spokane.

Evaristo-Valderas faces murder and assault charges and is scheduled for trial next month.

November

Linsey David "Davy" Callaway, 46, was shot and killed at a vacant house in the 1900 block of East Lyons on Nov. 4. He had $38 in his pocket.

His killing has not resulted in any arrests. At the time, Callaway was unhoused, mentally ill and likely addicted to drugs, according to his mother, Lark Pogue. He had left his home in Texas 10 years prior and found Spokane, where he seemed to be happy. Pogue said he still struggled because he had bipolar disorder, which made everyday life extremely difficult to manage.

"He was very, very nice. He always thought of other people. He was considerate until he would have a mania period," Pogue said. "He loved camping and fishing. ... He loved animals."

Calissa Asker, 10, and Isabelle Asker, 8, were believed to have been shot and killed by their mother in their home 2609 W. Woodside Ave., just north of Salk Middle School, in November.

A father reported he had just returned home to find his wife and two children dead. Their mother, Michelle Asker, died by suicide, the Spokane Medical Examiner's Office ruled. Pets in the home were also dead. According to Spokane Public Schools spokesperson Ryan Lancaster, the children were home-schooled but had previously attended Balboa Elementary School.

Neighbors said they often saw the children outside walking or playing with their dog and playing with other children. No other information has been made available.

Lilea "Lilly" Stolworthy, 11, was shot and killed off North Prentis Street in Medical Lake in November. She died from a gunshot wound to the head, the Spokane Medical Examiner said. Detectives believe she was shot by her brother, Jordan Brownlow, who shot himself soon after.

According to court records, Lilly had run away from home around Thanksgiving, so her family gave some of her items to Brownlow to store. She returned home wanting the items back, court records said, and went out with Brownlow to his car to get them. When she didn't come back inside the house, her adoptive mother, Darel Stolworthy, went outside and found her in the street.

Brownlow, 31, later died from his injuries.

Lilly was described by family and friends as silly, sleepy, funny, witty and pretty. The community had a vigil for her soon after her death, honoring her life that was cut too short. Stolworthy said she and her brother struggled with mental health issues and their story is an example to "get help if you need it."

Jannell Martensen, 49, went missing after a camping trip in November. She was heading out with her former boyfriend, Colton Russell, and his current girlfriend, Kiara Morgan-Weiland.

Martensen's body was found a month later in Valleyford, located in a toolbox at Russell's mother's home, court records said. The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide, caused by blunt force injuries.

Martensen's daughter, Shelby Martensen-Wright, said she always made sure to take care of her children and check in on her granddaughters.

"There's lots of people in this world that think because they're drug addicts that they're inhuman. That's not the case," she said. "She wore her heart on her sleeve."

Everybody who loses a family member always believes that family member is the most loving person on Earth, Martensen-Wright said, but it was especially true with her mom.

"She loved so deeply," she said.

Spokane police spokeswoman Julie Humphreys said detectives identified Russell, who was later shot and killed, as the suspect in Martensen's killing, but the department is still investigating.

December

Colton Russell, 37, and Kiara Morgan-Weiland, 23, were both found dead near Cleveland Avenue and Cuba Street in northeast Spokane in December. Morgan-Weiland had multiple stab wounds and Russell was shot, according to the medical examiner.

Brandon Kenny, 25, was arrested on suspicion of killing them. He told police that he was coerced into helping them move the body of Jannell Martensen, who was Russell's ex-girlfriend.