Murder trial begins for gunman accused of 2018 Tri-Cities home invasion killing
Almost five years after a father-to-be was killed in a home invasion, his accused killer is finally on trial.
Lawrence Isaiah Groce’s murder trial began last week for his role in the 2018 death of Hunter Black, in what police believe was a robbery gone wrong.
The trial in Benton County Superior Court brought in a huge pool of potential jurors, to a point where the courthouse had to shift cases to different courtrooms to accommodate the overflow.
The trial officially began Wednesday was expected to last about 10 days.
Arrest and charges
Groce, 24, was on the run for several years before being arrested in connection with a shooting last April on Interstate 5 in Tukwila, Wash.
Groce is one of three men facing charges connected to the killing. Kavonte “KC” Conley, 23, was charged with first-degree murder in February. A warrant was issued for Conley’s arrest last November, and he remains at large.
Wardell Eniko J. Braxton also was charged and pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in prison.
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.
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.
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.
One of Conley’s relatives told investigators that he kept the shotgun under his bed, said court documents.
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.
This story was originally published April 17, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
