Finley teen held on suspicion of first-degree murder

DeShawn I. Anderson is believed to have bragged on Twitter about his criminal exploits around the time a Pasco man was gunned down in his car last week.

Police wanted the 18-year-old Finley man for allegedly sparking a series of Pasco gang shootings, but so far he had avoided capture with help from loved ones.

He tweeted “that people should watch the news to know what he was about,” investigators wrote in court documents.

Then late Dec. 3, Anderson allegedly killed Lorenzo R. Fernandez Jr. outside a Pasco apartment complex in retaliation for an earlier shooting that left Anderson’s friend dead and cousin injured, said Pasco Detective Corey Smith. Witness information and evidence at the scene point to Anderson as the main suspect, documents said.

On Friday — a day after his three weeks on the run came to an end — Anderson appeared in Franklin County Superior Court and was told there is “sufficient grounds” to hold him on suspicion of first-degree murder.

He appeared to smirk and laugh as Judge Robert Swisher said prosecutors were asking for $1 million bail.

His older brother, Michael D. Anderson III, is accused of driving DeShawn around the Tri-Cities, even after allegedly telling police he had no knowledge of his brother’s whereabouts.

Swisher agreed to let Michael Anderson go without bail since the 20-year-old has no felony history. He was in custody on an investigative hold for first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Lakisha T. Love, DeShawn Anderson’s girlfriend, didn’t appear in court since prosecutors approved her release before the hearing. The 18-year-old had been booked into jail early Thursday, also on suspicion of rendering assistance.

Prosecutors have until 11:30 a.m. Dec. 16 to charge DeShawn Anderson or let him go free. If charged, he will return to court Dec. 23 to enter a plea.

Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn said Anderson has convictions for assault, residential burglary, unlawful possession of a firearm, eluding and custodial assault. He also explained that the higher bail amount was warranted because the fatal shooting “occurred when he already was wanted on another matter.”

Anderson initially was named as a person of interest in a Nov. 18 shooting at 814 W. Margaret St. that left three men injured. A fourth person reportedly was not hurt.

The victims of that shooting came home from a night out at a Pasco casino when two armed suspects ambushed them. The suspects, who were on foot when they approached the car, fired close to 20 rounds. Officers found .45-caliber shell casings at the scene.

The investigation into that first shooting revealed the victims were associated with a street gang that had an ongoing feud with Anderson. One of the victims was heard shouting “Shawn” during the shooting, and a description of one of the shooters matched Anderson, Smith wrote in court documents.

The following day, Michael Anderson allegedly picked up his brother from a Kennewick home and drove him to a relative’s Pasco house. However, after learning that police were watching the West Marie Street home for any signs of DeShawn, the two left, documents said.

That evening, as Anthony Guerrero and two others sat in a car on West Marie Street, two men armed with handguns opened fire on the group on the dark street. The victims were hit multiple times.

The suspects fled on foot and have not been identified.

Guerrero, 20, died hours later. Another person was critically injured and taken to a hospital out of the area, and the third person suffered non-life threatening wounds, police said.

Documents said Guerrero was DeShawn Anderson’s friend, and that one of the other victims was his cousin. Police believe that shooting was in retaliation for the events of the night before.

As investigators still were at that scene, shots were fired into a North Cedar Avenue house. Police found bullet holes in the house and multiple shell casings in the street, but no one was apparently home at the time of the drive-by shooting.

Officer Chad Pettijohn spoke with Michael Anderson on Nov. 21 about the first shooting.

Anderson admitted taking his brother to the Pasco relative’s home and seeing an unmarked police car with “undercovers” in the neighborhood, court documents said. When family members warned that the house was being watched, DeShawn got back into his brother’s car and they took off, again driving past an unmarked car, documents said.

The brothers reportedly learned that police arrived at the relative’s home a short time later looking for DeShawn, “but we had already left,” Michael Anderson allegedly said.

During the police interview, police told Michael Anderson several times that his brother was wanted, and he was warned not to help him in any way, Pettijohn said. “Michael promised us he had no knowledge of his brother’s whereabouts and would assist us if he did,” court documents said.

Pettijohn said investigators spoke with several people between Nov. 21 and Dec. 11 who reported that Michael Anderson continued to contact his brother and drive him around Kennewick and Pasco while he was on the lam.

Anderson also drove Love to visit with her boyfriend, and when they’d arrive he would remove his cellphone battery so police couldn’t track them, documents said.

According to Detective Smith’s affidavit, Fernandez received a telephone call Dec. 3 while at his parents’ house. The 22-year-old Pasco man was an associate of the victims from the Nov. 18 shooting.

For unknown reasons, Fernandez drove his Ford Mustang to the Stonegate Apartments on Road 68 and stopped his car in the parking lot, court documents said. That’s when residents reported hearing multiple gunshots and found Fernandez inside his Mustang, which had crashed into several parked vehicles in an apparent attempt to get away.

A witness saw a person matching DeShawn Anderson’s description running from the scene with a handgun, documents said. Police found .45-caliber casings and a 9 mm pistol magazine where Fernandez was shot, and nearby they located a pair of shoe prints in dirt.

After the second death, Pasco Police Chief Bob Metzger emphasized the shootings are not random and that each one has been a “targeted assault.”

Capt. Ken Roske told the Herald on Friday that investigators can’t confirm if Fernandez may have been involved in the Nov. 19 fatal shooting of Guerrero.

A tip that Anderson was hiding in the Peppertree Village Apartments led police to surround the Kennewick complex Thursday morning. He peacefully surrendered to members of the Tri-City Regional SWAT Team.

A search of the apartment where Anderson was found turned up a 9 mm pistol, documents said. Also, at the time of his arrest, Anderson allegedly was wearing shoes that matched the prints found at the scene of Fernandez’s killing.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Finley teen held on suspicion of first-degree murder."