The scene of a south Thurston County homicide last week.
Thurston County deputies arrested a Centralia man Monday on suspicion of, on March 7, shooting and killing a man during a verbal argument in southwestern Thurston County.
Adan Sanchez, 37, of Centralia is accused of second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing 27-year-old Pedro Beltran Palomares, also of Centralia.
On Saturday, deputies arrested Romulo Yanez Jr., 38, on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance Friday in connection to the investigation.
According to a press release from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, Sanchez and Beltran were drinking and partying at a residence on Shamon Court Southwest in Grand Mound when they started a verbal argument. The argument intensified to the point that Sanchez allegedly shot Beltran.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Yanez’s case, deputies went to the house at 11:36 p.m. March 7 after a juvenile called 911 saying his father’s friend was suffering from a gunshot wound. The juvenile said there was a gun on the table, but the affidavit notes that the dispatcher was having trouble getting information from the child.
“…the father grabbed the phone from the juvenile and yelled, ‘You have the address and that’s all you need.’ Dispatch advised that the phone was set down and they could hear crying, yelling, and screaming,” reads the affidavit.
Deputies went to the house and found Yanez, a 16-year-old male and an 11-year-old female at the home. None were injured, according to a press release.
Court documents allege Yanez was yelling at the kids, telling them not to talk to responding officers. They were sleeping when the gunshots started, he said, and didn’t see anything. The press release indicates the two kids — Yanez’s children — were later released to their mother.
A man, later identified as Beltran was found inside the house, on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to his arm and torso. Medics arrived, and he was pronounced dead.
Yanez said he heard two gunshots ring out, and found Beltran had been shot.
Two shell casings of identical caliber were found — one in a living room and the other near the backyard. Three semiautomatic handguns were found inside a doghouse outside. One of them matched the caliber of the shell casings.
“It was obvious to law enforcement that someone attempted to alter the homicide scene and hide evidence,” reads the affidavit.
Deputies learned that Yanez allegedly moved some evidence — a gun and a couple of shell casings — from the scene.
Deputies continued to investigate the scene and seek witnesses through mid-day Friday, identifying a “person of strong interest” — who was later identified in a follow-up press release as Sanchez.
“He is not an immediate threat to the public at large because he had been freshly incarcerated in Jail for an unrelated crime in the early morning hours of March 8th, 2019,” reads a press release distributed Friday evening.
