Twice-convicted WA murderer with 3 felony ‘strikes’ faces life in prison

A convicted murderer faces life in prison for killing a 20-year-old man at Richland apartment complex.

A jury deliberated for a day and a half before finding Antoine R. “Peanut” Surge, 45, guilty of second-degree murder. The decision followed a nine-day trial in Benton County Superior Court.

Surge shot Edree D. Thompson, 20, during an argument at the Columbia Park Apartments in May 2023. When his first shot missed, he chased Thompson through the complex and fired again.

That shot hit Thompson in the back, severing his aorta, the largest artery in the body. He was rushed to the hospital where he died.

Attorneys gave their closing arguments on Friday afternoon.

Prosecutors said the shooting happened because Surge got involved in an argument between Thompson and another man. Prosecutors showed a video taken by a man standing in the parking lot. On it, they said the man yelled at Surge to stop.

“We’re here today because of a string of events, and people interjecting themselves in that string of events,” Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge said. “People deciding that they get to decide what the next action should be. We’re here today because when a man shouted, ‘No. Don’t. Don’t,” someone did.

“We’re here today because when Edree tried to run, someone chased him. We’re here because when a man again said, ‘Don’t! Don’t!” someone did again.”

Defense attorney Brian Hultgrenn argued the prosecutions case was built on fuzzy video, unreliable witnesses and a laser focus on Surge despite other witnesses saying another person fired the gun.

“This case is about chaos, conflicting testimony and an investigation that has tunnel vision,” he said. “And that is not enough for a conviction with a burden of beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The conviction is Surge’s “third strike” under the state’s persistent offender sentencing law. The law mandates a life sentence for anyone who has committed one of a certain list of violent felonies.

His first conviction came after an August 2001 shooting when he killed his girlfriend’s estranged husband in a fight at her Seattle home.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2002, and was sentenced to 16 years. He was released in 2019.

He got in trouble with the law again in 2020, and was convicted of second-degree assault.

His sentencing for the 2023 murder has not been scheduled yet.

Richland complex shooting

Investigators say Thompson arrived about 9 p.m. at the Columbia Park Apartments with Melissa Klug to pick up her sister, Christina Cato, who arguing with her boyfriend, Deliyon McCord. Surge had been with his girlfriend at the apartment complex and was friends with Cato’s boyfriend.

The cellphone video that served as key evidence for the prosecution showed a crowd and chaotic scene in front of the apartment building.

McCord and Thompson allegedly started to fight. Then, Surge approached the fight with a gun, said prosecutors.

Before the first shot, McCord allegedly yelled “Don’t do it. Don’t to it.” before a bang was heard. People said he knocked the gun down.

Thomspon started running and the video shows Surge chasing McCord. Just before the second shot, McCord is heard yelling again.

As they rounded a car in the parking lot, Surge fired the fatal shot.

Defense attorney arguments

Hultgrenn argued that none of the witnesses that the prosecution presented were credible. He said the video showed at least 20 people out in front of the apartment building, but only a few witnesses were brought in.

“There was a big area. There was a lot of stuff going on. There were a lot of little fights, other guns. .... What would you be expecting when you hear about a case like that — a large amount of evidence, lots of witnesses forensic testing .... maybe expert witnesses?” Hultgrenn said.

“What did you get? You got four primary witnesses. You get no forensic testing. You get no experts, other than the (medical examiner). You get little or no follow-up on any lead that points in any direction other than to my client,” he told the jury.

He argued the prosecution’s case largely relied on the cellphone video and the jury interpreting it in a way that was favorable for their case.

Hultgrenn said the video was taken by a self-appointed security guard who wouldn’t let police access his phone. So there was no way to ensure the information on it was safe from tampering.

He pointed out that Thompson is out of frame when the shooting happened, so there isn’t any way of knowing for certain whether the second shot hit him or if he was killed by a bullet from another source.

Other witnesses pinned the shooting on McCord, Hultgrenn argued. But jurors reached a different conclusion.

This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.