Bail Set at $50,000 for 87-Year-Old Woman Accused of Fatally Shooting Granddaughter

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Yakima County Superior Court Judge Gayle Harthcock set bail at $50,000 during a preliminary hearing Monday, and scheduled a bail hearing for Wednesday, to give defense attorneys a chance to argue for a lower bail or release on her own recognizance.

Andres Muñoz, with the county’s Office of Assigned Council argued during the preliminary hearing that the woman, identified as Wanda Lee Roberts, acted in self defense, and that she was the one who reported the shooting to police.

But Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Jackson said that Roberts did not talk to police after the incident, and that she was the only one with a gun while her granddaughter, Tiffany Roberts, was unarmed and that Roberts shot through a closed door.

The grandmother had moved in with her granddaughter in an apartment at 602 N. Third St. to help her “get her life straightened out,” Yakima police Lt. Mike Pollard said.

“She underestimated the problems the granddaughter had, and became fearful,” Pollard said. At 12:20 a.m., the granddaughter demanded to come into the grandmother’s bedroom, and the grandmother fired a single shot through the door, hitting the younger woman in the upper torso.

She was pronounced dead around 1 a.m. at Astria Regional medical Center, Yakima County Coroner Jack Hawkins said. An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday.

The grandmother is being held in the Yakima County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, and will make a preliminary appearance Monday afternoon.

The killing is the 26th in the county, and the 16th in the city this year.