UPDATE: Kennewick hotel murder suspect found in Pasco motel

UPDATE: Detectives and officers from several Tri-Cities agencies found a Kennewick murder suspect Thursday evening at a Pasco motel.

Anthony Spearman, 38, was arrested just before 7 p.m. at the Thunderbird Motel, said a Kennewick police news release.

Kennewick detectives, Pasco police, Tri-City Regional SWAT officers and the U.S. Marshals Service were involved.

“Spearman was cooperative, exited a motel room and was arrested,” said the release.

He was booked into Benton County jail on a murder warrant.

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A 65-year-old man shot earlier this week inside his Kennewick apartment has died.

Leonard Slack initially was believed to be in stable condition with gunshot wounds in the arm and stomach.

But, during surgery early Tuesday at Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick, doctors discovered that his injuries were “much more serious” and sent him to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center where he underwent additional surgeries, according to Kennewick police.

Slack died Wednesday evening, police said in a news release.

He named the alleged shooter to police — both in his apartment and at the hospital before surgery — and a witness’ description of a man seen running from the apartment and a fleeing SUV matched Slack’s identification.

A nationwide warrant was issued Tuesday for Anthony T. Spearman on one count of first-degree assault with a Ruger 9mm revolver.

Bail was set at $150,000.

Now, police say the charge in Benton County Superior Court will be amended to murder in light of Slack’s unexpected death.

Spearman, 38, “is to be considered armed and dangerous,” and is actively being sought by Kennewick police and other law enforcement agencies, the news release said.

The first call to 911 came in at 12:11 a.m. Tuesday from a neighbor at Slack’s apartment complex, saying he’d been on the phone when Slack knocked on his door asking for help.

The neighbor said he could hear the sound of glass or tables breaking inside Slack’s apartment, so he did not open his front door but called 911, court documents said.

As the commotion continued next door, the neighbor cracked his door open just enough to see out into the hallway. That is when he noticed a tall, skinny man wearing all black and a baseball cap running down the stairs.

The neighbor closed his door, but again heard Slack yelling for help.

This time he left his apartment and, “walking carefully” toward Slack’s residence, he noticed the front door was ajar and found Slack, who said he’d been shot, documents said.

The neighbor then placed his second call to 911 and gave Slack’s condition to emergency dispatchers.

Officer Sebastian Castilleja had arrived at the 3523 W. Hood Ave. complex at about 12:27 a.m. and was approaching the “B” building when dispatch relayed that the neighbor was back on the phone with an update.

Castilleja and Officer Jared Campbell found the neighbor at the top of the stairs, then saw Slack inside his apartment “hunched over on the living room floor,” court documents said. “The couch was flipped over and a living room table appeared as though it had been thrown or broken and was laying on its side in the living room.”

Slack told police he was in the apartment alone. A bronze revolver was found underneath him on the floor, documents said.

Slack was bleeding from the gunshot wounds in his forearm and stomach near his left arm. He named “Anthony Spearman” when asked who shot him, court documents said.

Then, once at Trios, Campbell again asked Slack to name the suspect before he was given any drugs or medication. Slack repeated Spearman’s name, documents said.

The victim alleged that Spearman “was trying to rob me,” but couldn’t answer any more questions once he was moved to an operating room.

The neighbor later told officers that as he was walking to check on Slack, he saw a silver Kia SUV leave the complex at a high rate of speed.

Spearman is the registered owner of a 2011 Kia Sorento, police said.

Spearman was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2015 for a Walla Walla County drug possession case. He was released on July 31, 2019.

Online court records show his lengthy criminal history dates to 1997, with his first case at age 14 for unlawful possession of firearms.

Since then, he’s had cases in Walla Walla, Adams, Franklin, Spokane and Benton counties.

Anyone with information on the shooting or Spearman’s whereabouts is encouraged to immediately contact police by providing an anonymous tip online at www.KPDtips.com, or calling non-emergency dispatch at 509-628-0333

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 12:30 PM.