$1M arrest warrant issued for 2018 suspected accomplice in Kennewick teen slaying
Kennewick police are asking for help finding the final suspect in a 2018 murder of an 18-year-old Kennewick father-to-be.
Police believe Kavonte “KC” Conley, 23, was standing next to the accused gunman when Hunter Black was fatally shot in the chest during a robbery at his home.
Conley is the last of three suspects to be charged with first-degree murder in connection to the killing. A $1 million nationwide warrant has been issued for his arrest.
He allegedly confronted Black, along with Lawrence Isaiah Groce, 24, while a third man, Wardell Eniko J. Braxton, 22, helped.
Black lived in the Yelm Street home with his pregnant girlfriend Cynarra Scott and another couple.
At the time, Scott woke up to hear Black shouting at two masked men near the doorway. Then Groce is believed to have shot Black with a shotgun.
A roommate punched one intruder and tried to grab another, but the attackers got away, leaving behind the gun.
Police are asking anyone with information about where Conley is to call the non-emergency dispatch line at 509-628-0333 or provide an anonymous tip at www.kpdtips.com.
Murder charges
There was a long period with little public information about the case following the October 2018 shooting. Charges started to be filed last April about the time that Groce was arrested in connection with a shooting on Interstate 5 in Tukwila.
He continues to face a first-degree murder charge in Black’s death. His trial is scheduled for March 27.
Braxton was also charged and pleaded guilty earlier this month to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in prison.
Conley was charged late last year.
According to Kennewick police, he has called the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office to confirm that he is wanted, but hasn’t turned himself in.
Robbery plot
One of Conley’s relatives told investigators that he kept the shotgun under his bed, said court documents.
Through a series of tips and interviews, investigators learned that Groce, Conley and Braxton had planned to rob Black, though court documents don’t say what they were after.
The three allegedly went into the Yelm Street home. Braxton turned on the lights in Black’s bedroom while Groce and Conley carried out the robbery.
After the gunshot and fighting with Black’s roommate, the three suspected robbers 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 Lab officials reported finding DNA on the spent shell inside the shotgun.
Court documents say 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.