Kennewick shooting victim may have been murdered for getting in the middle of a fight
Five suspects may have chased a 21-year-old before he was shot and killed Saturday evening.
Police suspect that Patrick S. Romero got into the middle of an argument between a family member and a group of men. Then, one of the men pulled a gun and opened fire, according to court documents.
While some of the suspects appear to be gang members, there isn’t anything indicating it was a gang-related crime, said Kennewick police Lt. Aaron Clem.
After leaving Romero bleeding to death in a parking lot on the 2600 block of West Bruneau Place, Raheem G. Mayberry and the others raced back to Mayberry’s car and drove away police believe, according to court documents.
The 19-year-old has been in Benton County jail on a investigative hold since Saturday night after Kennewick detectives tracked him to the 600 block of North 19th Avenue in Pasco.
Kennewick and Pasco officers also impounded two of the cars at the home.
He is being held on $100,000 bail and prosecutors have until Wednesday to decide whether he will face charges of rendering criminal assistance.
Detectives continue to hunt for the remaining suspects, Clem said, though they are not ready to release more information about them.
An autopsy found Romero died from a gunshot wound to the torso, the Benton County Chief Deputy Coroner Dennis Morris said. It’s unclear if he was shot more than once because other details are not being released at this time.
Romero’s Facebook page says he attended Sunnyside High School and had worked as a landscape laborer. Public records say he lived in Prosser in 2019.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Kennewick police at 509-628-0333.
Mayberry’s arrest
At the time of the shooting, Mayberry was awaiting trial for theft.
He is accused of helping his manager steal a $5,000 bank deposit from the Columbia Center mall’s Orange Julius/Dairy Queen.
The teen and his manager Nadia Rodriguez, 31, hatched a plan days before Christmas to steal the money.
Mayberry played the part of a robber and he grabbed Rodriguez’s purse away and pushed her to the ground.
When police watched the surveillance video, they saw Rodriguez standing at the Macy’s entrance foyer for four minutes before leaving. She later admitted to texting Mayberry while she stood there, said court documents.
The teen returned most of the cash, but claimed it was supposed to be a prank.
The bank bags were missing $677, and police are not sure where the money went between the fake robbery and Mayberry’s arrest.
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 2:20 PM.