Charges dropped in Howard Amon Park gang shooting after witnesses refuse to testify

A 34-year-old man charged in the Fourth of July shooting at a Richland park is now free because witnesses refuse to testify, fearing for their safety.

Kenyatta Tyrone Turner had been scheduled to face a jury this week for first-degree assault in the gang violence that left one holiday reveler seriously hurt.

Instead, Turner’s case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can re-file the charge if new evidence or witnesses come to light.

Turner was released from the Benton County jail late Monday afternoon. He had been in custody on $250,000 bail since Oct. 18.

His defense attorney argued to have the case dropped so prosecutors could not pursue it again in the future, or to go forward with the trial in the hopes of an acquittal because of the witness issues.

But Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell granted the prosecution’s motion.

Of the four suspects in the Howard Amon Park shooting, only one person pleaded guilty. The two teens who allegedly fired the shots have yet to be charged.

Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Howell said in court documents for Turner that he would be unable to prove the charge at trial beyond a reasonable doubt with the witnesses that remained.

“After discussing their concerns with witnesses in person, via phone, and even at their residence, the state does not feel it would be in the interests of justice to seek material witness warrants due to the unique circumstances surrounding this case,” Howell wrote.

“The individuals in this case who refused to testify were at the park on the Fourth of July with their families when they unexpectedly became witnesses to gang violence, which resulted in one person being shot.”

A material witness warrant involves arresting that person and holding them in jail until they testify at a court hearing or trial.

Victim shot several times

Howard Amon Park was crowded with hundreds of families and friends on July 4, 2018, when police started receiving calls at 7:50 p.m. about shots fired.

Officers arriving said it was chaotic as people ran from the south end of the park onto the roadway.

Sergio Rivera was found with several gunshot wounds that required a 1 1/2-week stay in the hospital and multiple surgeries

People with Rivera told police they’d been at the park when another group approached them about a half hour earlier and started the confrontation.

A witness recorded that argument on their cellphone and gave a copy to officers, court documents said.

Rivera left the park but returned at the park’s south entrance. They were followed into the parking lot by the two suspect vehicles, which were caught on surveillance video from a nearby hotel, documents said.

The video shows two boys getting out of a purple Dodge Charger and running after Rivera, then Rivera suddenly dropping to the ground.

Police believe that is when Rivera was shot.

The suspects ran away, and instead of returning to the Dodge they went to a black Honda Accord that Turner allegedly was driving.

Howell said Rivera has been uncooperative.

Many witnesses to Rivera’s shooting were children, and their parents are “understandably concerned” about having the kids testify, he said.

“The state carefully weighed whether seeking material witness warrants was an appropriate way to secure these individuals’ testimony and determined that, in this limited circumstance, it was not,” the motion said.

“Even if the state were to request material witness warrants for these individuals, the state does not believe that they would testify consistently with their initial statements to law enforcement if they could be located and arrested.”

And without their substantive testimony, Howell said, the criminal case would end up dismissed for lack of evidence once the prosecution wrapped up.

Co-defendant Traybion Tyree Dickerson pleaded guilty in late March to a reduced charge of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Like Turner, he had been charged with first-degree assault with the aggravating circumstance that the shooting “involved a destructive and foreseeable impact on persons other than the victim.”

He drove the purple Dodge to the scene and directed the teens to shoot Rivera.

Dickerson, 27, was sentenced to two years and one month in state prison.

Miguel Jimenez-Dickerson Jr., 13, and Keyon Trayvont Dickerson, now 15, are suspected of shooting Rivera, but haven’t been charged with it.

However, the two cousins were charged in Franklin County Juvenile Court with a Sept. 2 drive-by shooting on South Eighth Avenue in Pasco.

No one was hit in the Labor Day weekend shooting, though police said three people were inside an apartment that was shot at nine times. The teens pleaded guilty in November to attempted second-degree assault.

Prosecutors said they agreed to the reduced charge from drive-by shooting because witnesses were unavailable and unwilling to testify.

Jimenez-Dickerson and Dickerson received one month in juvenile detention and one year on community supervision where they work with a probation counselor.

This story was originally published April 9, 2019 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Charges dropped in Howard Amon Park gang shooting after witnesses refuse to testify."