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Pasco, Washington
A 23-year-old Pendleton man is accused of shooting and killing his cousin after a series of tense exchanges at a Pasco home.
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Jesus Diamond Lamberson is being held on $250,000 bail at the Franklin County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to jail records.
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He was arrested Thursday in connection with the Feb. 21 shooting that left Macario Silva-Gutierrez seriously wounded. He died four days later, according to court records.
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Pasco police were called to a home at 2621 W. Octave St. at 11:20 a.m. after Lamberson reportedly called 911 to say he’d shot someone.
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When officers met him outside, he explained he wounded his cousin from Mexico, Silva-Gutierrez, and left the gun, unloaded, on the couch before walking outside to call police, according to court documents.
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Inside, officers gave Silva-Gutierrez medical aid, before an ambulance took him to a hospital.
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Lamberson said he had come to his father’s Octave Street home the day before the shooting with two friends, Ronaldo Mendoza and a teen boy.
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The Pendleton man was looking for an alternator to fix Mendoza’s car. When they arrived, Lamberson said Silva-Gutierrez was “in the backyard saying things and stole a tattoo gun and a battery jump pack.”
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Lamberson told Silva-Gutierrez not to take the items, but didn’t try to stop him, according to court documents.
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Lamberson and his friends spent the night in the car, before returning to the house the next morning, he said.
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Shooting altercation
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Problems between the two men continued the next day. Lamberson and the teen told officers that Silva-Gutierrez started threatening him. At one point, he grabbed a golf club and began swinging.
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After that, Silva-Gutierrez said he wasn’t going to do anything at the house, but would “catch him off guard in the street,” according to court documents.
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Lamberson went inside with the teen and looked for his father, but learned that he wasn’t home, so he sat on the couch to wait. He didn’t want to leave the house because he was afraid of what Silva-Gutierrez might do to him, according to his statement to police.
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“Lamberson could not provide a reason why he thought Macario would have the means to act on those threats,” Pasco police Detective Jed Abastillas wrote in a court affidavit. “He said that he wanted to wait for his dad so his dad can handle Macario.”
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According to Lamberson, Silva-Gutierrez then came inside the house and threatened him again. He then went to a closet and began rummaging through it.
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Lamberson then got up to go to his dad’s room. As he came forward, he saw Silva-Gutierrez “take a stance.”
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“He said he saw Macario with a laundry bag in his left hand and could not see the right hand,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. “He said that was when he freaked out and shot Macario twice.”
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The teen told officers he didn’t see the shooting.
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An autopsy contradicted Lamberson’s statement that Silva-Gutierrez was facing him when he opened fire. Police also noted that there was a 50 minute gap of time.
