14-year-old murder suspect arrested in shooting that left a Tri-City teen dead in his car

A 14-year-old was arrested Wednesday evening for last weekend’s fatal shooting of a 19-year-old found dead inside a crashed car.

Julian Chavez of Kennewick was found at 9:15 p.m. Saturday when police were investigating reports of gunfire on the the 1100 block of West 5th Avenue.

They found him in a car that had crashed into a parked vehicle. He was sitting in the driver’s seat, according to initial dispatch reports.

Kennewick police reported that detectives had uncovered information that led to probable cause to arrest a 14-year-old suspect.

They found the teen about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at a home on the same West 5th Avenue block where Chavez crashed.

The teen was taken into custody and booked into the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Justice Center in Kennewick on suspicion of first-degree murder. His name was not made public.

No other details were released about the shooting.

Chavez’s death is being investigated as the 15th homicide this year in Benton County, Wash., with about half of them in Kennewick.

Chavez’s family said he was saving money to attend barber school.

The shooting was the third in Kennewick last weekend.

This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 9:59 PM.