5th Kennewick homicide in 2 weeks. Housekeeper finds man dead

A housekeeper found her client dead in his home when she arrived to clean it about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, said Kennewick police.

Investigators say the death at the house at on the 400 block of South Buchanan Street was not from natural causes.

It is being investigated as a homicide.

The victim’s identity had not been confirmed by police.

Kennewick police detectives were at the home late Tuesday afternoon and the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab was en route.

Police Chief Chris Guerrero told the Kennewick City Council Tuesday evening that the incident appeared to be isolated to that home and unconnected to recent homicides.

The suspected homicide followed four homicides under investigation in Kennewick area in the last 10 days of April:

▪ Ezekiel Sanchez, 25, died after being dropped off at the Kadlec Emergency Department in Kennewick April 20 with a gunshot to the head.

Ramon Candido 27, pleaded innocent April 29 to second-degree murder for killing Sanchez in a gang-related shootout between two cars in downtown Kennewick.

The woman accused of driving the car during the shooting, Beatriz Terrazas, 23, is charged with witnessing a crime and not reporting it — a gross misdemeanor. She also pleaded innocent.

▪ Hector Munguia, 18, is accused of stabbing and killing his 70-year-old neighbor, Zale Underwood, on April 22.

Underwood was mowing his lawn on the 1100 block of Gum Street when Munguia approached him.

Munguia told detectives that he knew it was wrong to kill Underwood but did not care. He has been charged with first-degree murder.

▪ Brian L. Wilcox, 68, is suspected of shooting and killing his wife, Kathy Wilcox, in the kitchen of their mobile home at 1405 S. Elm St. on April 25.

The kitchen was then set on fire.

Police said on Monday, May 2, that Wilcox was found and arrested in Oklahoma.

▪ A former Kamiakin High School football player was shot the evening of April 28 at a home on the 2100 block of Rhode Island Court, a few blocks north of the intersection of Steptoe Street and Gage Boulevard.

Police arrived to find Ricardo Rivera, 17, bleeding. He later died at a hospital.

Several men were seen running from the mobile home park, but no suspect has been arrested.

This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 4:54 PM.