3 men cleared in Franklin County murder now face kidnapping charges in Benton County
Three Tri-Cities men who were found not guilty after a recent emotional murder trial are now in the Benton County jail on kidnapping charges.
Months before they were charged with the murder of Denali Anderson, the men allegedly kidnapped a 16-year-old.
Just days after being named suspects in the murder, Angel Garcia, 20, Osman Morales-Salto, 20, and Brian Panduro-Valenzuela, 21, were charged with first-degree kidnapping in Benton County related to the April 2022 incident.
Kidnapping
Investigators say Garcia had gotten into a fist fight with the 16-year-old at a restaurant, according to court records.
Court records don’t explain what prompted the fight.
The teen told police that later he got a phone call from a 14-year-old friend to hang out. The friend said he would be in a white Nissan Altima.
When the victim got in, he found four people, all wearing ski masks, inside the car. The teen tried to get out, but they stopped him.
The attackers hit him several times in the face before removing their masks.
He told police that all of the men were armed with handguns, and he said they pointed them at him and said, “We are going to get you.”
The victim got out and ran.
The fourth attacker was not identified.
That case was on hold while the men were on trial in Franklin County Superior Court for murder and assault.
They were booked into the Benton County jail on Tuesday. Garcia and Panduro-Valenzuela are each being held in lieu of $250,000 bail and $200,000 for Morales-Salto.
Acquitted of murder
The three men were accused of killing killing Denali Anderson and wounding Caiden Gawith after a confrontation at a party in August 2022 led to a shootout.
A Franklin County jury acquitted them last Thursday after two days of deliberations, capping off a five-week trial.
Prosecutors apparently struggled to prove to jurors what happened in the chaos of the neighborhood shootout that night, including the apparent final two shots at Anderson while he was lying on the ground.
The defense attorneys argued during their closing statements that witness statements were flawed and security videos from the neighborhood were unclear.
They contended that their clients were defending themselves from an armed robbery.
Jurors decided that Morales-Salto and Garcia acted in self defense. That will require the state to pay their attorney fees.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM.