Who fired 1st at deadly Pasco shooting? Jury hears 2 versions at murder trial’s opening day

The shooting started shortly after Denali Anderson crossed paths with three men outside a Pasco party in 2022.

But attorneys told jurors different stories about whether the three men on trial — Angel Garcia, 20, Osman Morales Salto, 20, and Brian Panduro-Valenzuela, 21 — started the gun fight or if the victim, Anderson, 20, fired first.

When the shooting was over, Anderson was dead and two men were wounded, including Panduro Valenzuela.

Garcia, Morales Salto and Panduro-Valenzuela are charged with first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree assault in Franklin County Superior Court in the August 2022 shooting.

Deputy Prosecutor Frank Jenny told jurors during Tuesday’s opening statements that the three men were in a Nissan Altima when they encountered Anderson and Caiden Gawith. Without warning, Garcia got out of the back seat and started shooting, Jenny said.

Anderson was hit immediately and ended up on the ground but returned fire with a .22 caliber pistol.

When the bulk of the shooting was finished, Morales Salto walked up to Anderson and fired two more shots, said Jenny.

Garcia’s attorney, Bevan Maxey of Spokane, put the blame on Anderson for picking a fight with the three men. He said the trouble started at a different party that night and Anderson recruited Gawith and another man for a fight.

He said Anderson pulled out his gun and fired first, and the other men were defending themselves.

And he contends the prosecution’s witnesses are not reliable. Gawith changed his story multiple times, he argued.

Another witness, Jaelin Fields, was previously accused of the crime before being offered a deal that would get him out of jail if he testified.

The case has been highly contentious, including Anderson’s family often disrupting court hearings with outbursts

Superior Court Judge David Petersen ordered everyone attending the proceedings on both sides to turn off their phones after some in the courtroom were filming jury selection and posted videos on Facebook.

This is the second time they have been brought to trial. The first trial for the three defendants ended in a mistrial last August when three stray witnesses, including a police officer, inadvertently walked into a courtroom and sat down, apparently not realizing that they were in a room full of potential jurors.

Shooting at Pimlico Drive

Many at the Aug. 6 shooting started their night at a party in downtown Pasco, say investigators. When police broke up the party for underage drinking, some moved to a party on the 1600 block of Pimlico Drive.

Jenny said testimony will show that when Anderson and Gawith arrived were many people there already.

“Caiden Gawith will tell you when he heard the gunshots, he looked over and saw his friend Denali Anderson grab at his midsection ... and immediately fell down to the ground,” Jenny told the jurors.

As that was happening, Gawith felt a bullet hit him and he crawled to a nearby house.

While on the ground, Anderson returned fire with his pistol, Jenny said.

One of his shots struck a Nissan, wounding the driver, Panduro-Valenzuela.

About 30 seconds after the shooting ended, Morales Salto walked over to where Anderson was lying and fired into him. A security video will show Morales Salto approach Anderson, Jenny said.

“Everybody was very calm. No more danger at that point,” he said. “You’ll be able to hear two shots Bang. Bang. Immediately after those two shots, once again very calmly, Osman walked very calmly over to the car.”

He then helped Panduro-Valenzuela into the passenger seat and drove away.

The car was riddled with bullets and a tire had been shot, so they stopped at a Maverik gas station where other people met the trio and took Garcia home.

They ditched the car on 71st Place, and Panduro-Valenzuela was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center. When police later found the car, they discovered a shell casing inside that allegedly matches ones discovered at the shooting scene.

Police tried to save Anderson, but he died.

Police tracked the three suspects to the home of Panduro-Valenzuela’s relative in Spokane, where they were arrested. Police searched the home and found another shell casing that reportedly matches guns used in the shooting.

Prosecutors initially charged six in connection with Anderson’s death. Prosecutors dropped charges against a 15-year-old suspect after a video analysis.

Fields was charged in the shooting, but the murder and assault charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement. He was sentenced to three months in jail. He had already served that time in the jail and was released.

Zhane P. Davis, 20, who helped Fields flee the scene, remains charged with rendering criminal assistance.

Victim blamed for starting shooting

Maxey told jurors that Jenny is only telling part of the story. He pointed out that the three witnesses have taken “significant steps” to avoid responsibility for their wrongdoing.

“They’re either making numerous false statements to law enforcement and others, changing stories repeatedly, hiding themselves from the investigation or attempting to shield others,” he said.

They’ve also been told by prosecutors that they could avoid trouble with the law if they testify, Maxey said.

Other witnesses were extremely drunk at the time of the shooting, Maxey contends.

Maxey argued that Anderson was looking for the Nissan after getting into a confrontation with a person at the earlier party. He believed the people in the Nissan were connected with the person he had the altercation with. He recruited Gawith and a third man to help look for the car.

Anderson was dressed in black with a mask when he and the other two found the Nissan that the three then-teens were in, Maxey said.

He asserted that the teens in the Nissan didn’t start the confrontation.

“The evidence will show that the occupants of the white Nissan were in their car, minding their own business, bothering no one,” he said

In one of Gawith’s statements, he told investigators that Anderson wanted to fight the driver of the car and demanded that he get out of the vehicle.

“It was Denali Anderson and his cohort that initiated the conflict that night,” he said. “We believe the evidence will show that it was Denali Anderson who was the first to fire a weapon.”

Panduro-Valenzuela’s attorney, Stephen T. Graham, and Morales Salto’s attorney, Tracy S. Collins, did not address the jury on Tuesday.