Jurors consider Pasco ambush gang shooting, killing

Jurors in the murder trial of DeShawn Anderson deliberated for just an hour Thursday before asking if they could again watch his videotaped interview with Pasco police.

Anderson, 20, is accused of killing a man in December 2014, just weeks after he allegedly shot up a car with four men inside.

The Finley man’s recorded statement was first played for the Franklin County Superior Court jury on Wednesday during the trial.

Prosecutors then rested their case after calling witnesses and presenting evidence over six days.

Anderson did not take the stand.

Defense attorney Shelley Ajax told jurors in closing arguments that the state threw out “a great deal” of red herrings, but didn’t prove its case against her client beyond a reasonable doubt.

No one identified Anderson as the shooter in either incident, she said. Yet, detectives quickly focused on Anderson without pursuing other potential suspects, and prosecutors gave deals to witnesses in exchange for their testimony, she said.

Ajax has said her client gave a false statement to police because he was under pressure and felt he had no choice.

“It’s apparent when you’re watching this interview that the police don’t believe Mr. Anderson,” Ajax said. “They push him, they push him, they push him throughout his interview. They flat-out tell him he’s lying.”

Anderson is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a gun and four counts of first-degree assault.

Twenty-one shots were fired Nov. 18, 2014, at a parked car holding: Carlos Torres-Tapia, Jesus Guillermo Bueno, Alejandro Saldana-Alvarado and Jonathan Alvarado.

Three victims received serious injuries, while the fourth was grazed by a bullet.

The following night, a car with Anderson’s friend Anthony Guerrero, Anderson’s cousin and another man was attacked with gunfire. Guerrero, 20, died hours later from his wounds.

Prosecutors allege that Anderson then retaliated on Dec. 3, 2014, for his friend’s death by targeting Lorenzo “Richie” Fernandez Jr.

Fernandez reportedly was picked because he is affiliated with the gang that is believed to have killed Guerrero.

The 22-year-old Fernandez was lured to the Stonegate Apartments on Road 68, then shot at eight times as he sat in his car.

Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn reminded jurors in closing arguments that several witnesses testified how Anderson had a dispute with a group of people.

Witnesses had no motive to lie, Hultgrenn said. But instead of being asked to just take a witness at their word, he said, the jury can test those statements against other evidence to determine if Anderson is responsible for both ambush-style shootings.

When interviewed by detectives, Anderson provided “information only one of the shooters would have,” including the exact number of shots fired at Fernandez, Hultgrenn said.

And while Anderson claimed the four men in the parked car had threatened him and he was defending himself, Hultgrenn noted that the car was riddled with bullets, and the injuries are consistent with being attacked from behind.

The crimes were about Anderson’s ego and him proving himself, the prosecutor said.

Anderson made choices in his life in late 2014, and now the jury needs to hold him accountable for those choices, he said.

The jury will resume deliberations today.

Judge Alex Ekstrom ruled that the 12-member panel can watch the entire interview in the courtroom, but the attorneys will not be allowed to speak as the video is being replayed.

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Jurors consider Pasco ambush gang shooting, killing."