Kennewick murder suspect checked into Pasco motel. Police checked him out

A Pasco gang member with violent felony convictions dating back 13 years now faces a possible murder charge in Kennewick.

Stephen Morfin was arrested early Friday at a Pasco motel when a white Chevy Impala pulled into the parking lot when a Pasco police officer was stopped on another case.

Tri-City police had been looking for a white Impala since Sept. 11 when a Kennewick man was gunned down in a driveway of a house.

Kennewick Sgt. Randy Maynard said Martin Ibanez, 39, was shot several times outside a house where he was visiting on the 1500 block of Seventh Place. He died soon after.

Many of the details surrounding the shooting remain unclear, including what allegedly linked Morfin and Ibanez.

On Friday, Morfin appeared briefly in Benton County Superior Court on an investigative hold for second-degree murder.

Prosecutor Andy Miller told Judge Sam Swanberg that witnesses have said Morfin and Ibanez appeared to know each other. And one witness told investigators Morfin was looking for Ibanez before the shooting, Miller said.

Morfin, 27, who is also goes by “Chicilin,” “Little Poncho,” and “Nutcase,” has eight felony convictions dating back to when he was a teen in 2004.

His convictions include robbery, witness intimidation and assault, according to court records.

He was recently released from a prison for stabbing a man in the Joker’s parking lot in Richland. He was sentenced last fall to two years for the October 2015 attack.

Morfin was acquitted in the 2012 attempted murder of a woman in Pasco. He and two other men were accused of pushing a pistol in a woman’s face and threatening to kill her.

Later that year, Morfin was charged with witness intimidation of the same woman, who claimed he hit her with a beer bottle and a pistol.

On Thursday night, Pasco officers were following a car in an unrelated case when they saw two women drive a 2007 Impala into the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn on Oregon Avenue in Pasco. Police suspected Morfin was inside one of the motel rooms.

Pasco Sgt. Chad Pettijohn called for more officers to help check the rooms. The Tri-City Regional SWAT team, along with officers from other agencies, responded.

Officers arrested Morfin about 2 a.m. Police said it took him an hour to surrender.

Police also arrested a Connell burglary suspect, Jimmy G. Guzman, 25, in a car in the same parking lot. That case is unrelated to the Kennewick shooting, said police.

Friday afternoon, Miller asked the judge to set deny bail or set at least $500,000 because of the seriousness of the crime, Morfin’s criminal history and his reluctance to come out of the motel.

Public Defense Manager Eric Hsu reserved argument on bail, but requested some bail amount be set.

Swanberg agreed to $500,000. Morfin remains in the Benton County jail.

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Kennewick murder suspect checked into Pasco motel. Police checked him out."