2nd man being charged for alleged role in 2018 murder of Kennewick father to be
A second man is facing charges in the 2018 robbery-turned-murder of an 18-year-old Kennewick father to be.
Wardell Eniko Joseph Braxton, 21, was one of the three gang members who planned on robbing Hunter Black inside his Yelm Street home in October 2018.
That robbery ended with Lawrence Isaiah Groce, 23, allegedly shooting Black in the chest with a shotgun that he left behind at the scene.
Benton County prosecutors charged Braxton with first-degree murder. He is already in jail on unrelated charges. Kennewick PD said in a news release Thursday.
State law allows multiple people to be charged with murder in cases when someone is killed during a robbery.
Groce, who was arrested in connection with a shooting on Interstate 5 in Tukwila, is facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with the shooting. He is being held on $1 million bail. His trial is currently set for Sept. 12.
A third man, Kavonte “KC” Conley, was allegedly involved in the robbery plot as well, and was standing next to Groce when the shot was fired, according to court records. He has not been charged in the shooting.
Black lived in the Yelm Street home with his pregnant girlfriend, Cynarra Scott, and another couple. Their child was born just a few months later.
At the time, Scott woke up to hear Black shouting at two masked men standing in the doorway. Then one of them shot Black in the chest.
A roommate punched one intruder and tried to grab another but the attackers got away, leaving behind the shotgun that killed Black.
The investigation
Police traced the shotgun back to a Pasco woman who said her great-grandson, Conley, kept the gun under his bed.
Through a series of tips and interviews, investigators learned about the robbery plan that was hatched between Groce, Conley and Braxton at Conley’s great-grandmother’s house.
The three allegedly went into the house and Braxton turned on the lights in Black’s bedroom, while Groce and Conley confronted Black.
Black’s roommate allegedly fought with Conley, and Groce shot Black before both men ran for the back door. In their escape, they left behind the shotgun.
The would-be robbers then went to the Burger King at 10th Avenue and Washington Street to figure out what to do next.
Braxton also allegedly sent a message on the morning of the murder that Conley left for Seattle and “if (Kavonte’s) fingerprints were found, he would go to jail forever,” according to the court records.
The Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory discovered DNA on the spent shell inside the shotgun.
Court documents say the WSP crime laboratory reported the DNA profile is 7.4 decillion times more likely to have come from Groce than a random individual. A decillion is a one followed by 33 zeroes.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 1:12 PM.