Richland motel murder was supposed to be just a robbery, suspect says
The woman locked up for the deadly shooting of a 24-year-old Burbank man claims her friend was only supposed to point a gun at the victim in an attempt to get money.
The two believed Anthony M. Irvine would give up during the robbery inside a Richland motel room, according to court documents.
Instead, Jonah W. Glass ended up firing once at Irvine as the victim was in bed with Glass’ ex-girlfriend.
Irvine died April 17 from a single gunshot wound to the head, said Benton County Coroner Bill Leach.
No other injuries were found during Tuesday’s autopsy, added Leach.
Both Glass, 23, and Joselyn Guzman, 29, have been arrested for the premeditated first-degree murder.
Glass was caught Tuesday following an hour-long standoff at a Pasco home. He is in the Benton County jail on $1 million bail.
He made a brief appearance in court Wednesday afternoon.
Guzman, a mother of three, has been in custody since Saturday on $500,000 bail.
Police initially detained Guzman and her boyfriend on Friday, hours after the killing, but released the two after questioning.
A subsequent search of Guzman’s car allegedly turned up evidence of drugs and gave police probable cause to arrest her. She was picked up the next day when she tried to get into her boyfriend’s Richland apartment, documents said.
It was during the follow-up interview Saturday that Richland detectives confronted Guzman with evidence that she set up Irvine.
Investigators found traffic camera footage from Friday morning showing Guzman’s car following a stolen car driven by Glass, from Kennewick into Richland and the Days Inn on Jadwin Avenue, court documents said.
Text messages also were recovered from Guzman to Glass. They included Guzman — who had gone into the room minutes before the shooting — telling Glass which motel room and which bed Irvine was sleeping in, documents said.
Then, 10 minutes after the shooting, Guzman allegedly sent a series of texts to Glass asking for his location and suggesting they meet up.
“This was for the both of us,” she wrote when Glass failed to respond, according to court documents.
“Are you trying to play me,” she also wrote.
Guzman, when shown copies of her text messages, told detectives she was unaware Glass was armed, documents said. But she also allegedly shared that Glass was supposed to point a gun at Irvine to get him to turn over money.
Friday shooting
Police were called to the motel room shortly after 10 a.m. Friday after someone reported a man had been shot.
The woman in bed with Irvine, Jasmine Uribe, was not hurt in the shooting. Another man in the room, Fernando Gonzalez, also was not wounded.
Guzman claimed in her first interview with detectives that she left the motel room to grab something from her car. She said she left the motel room ajar, and was in the parking lot when she heard a loud “pop” that she believed was a gunshot.
Guzman said she went back to the room and found Glass standing by one of the beds with a “bewildered look on his face,” documents said. Glass then ran out of the room, she claimed.
A spent .22-caliber casing was found by the bed where Irvine was shot, according to police.
Police also noted that while initially searching the room, they saw several calls come in to a phone left on one of the beds. The missed calls were from Guzman.
Detectives searched the Kennewick apartment where Glass had been staying for a couple months and discovered an unspent .22-caliber bullet on the bathroom floor, and a hat and two dark sweatshirts rolled up and stuffed into the cabinet under the bathroom sink, court documents said.
A person living there said Glass had come home about 11 a.m. Friday “freaking the f--- out,” and asked for a ride to Pasco.
Glass’ criminal history includes convictions for possessing methamphetamine, possessing a stolen car, reckless driving, attempting to elude police and unlawful gun possession.
Guzman, who has a long history of drug problems, also was arrested last weekend on a warrant for delivering meth.