Lewis County Sirens.com

Sheriff’s detectives are investigating apparent murder, suicide north of Winlock

Updated at 12:26 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a 59-year-old man allegedly fatally shot his younger brother and then turned a gun on himself in rural Winlock.

The events at the 600 block of Tennessee Road began earlier yesterday afternoon when a 64-year-old woman went out to drop chlorine into a well, the floorboards broke loose and she fell into the well, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies and aid called about 4:15 p.m. were working to rescue the woman, when her 59-year-old brother was asked to leave because he was being disruptive, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said. The two brothers had been arguing, he said.

The woman was retrieved from approximately 50 feet down inside the hand dug well where she had been trapped by collapsing debris and was transported to the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies were called back to the property at about 6:30 p.m., when witnesses said the 59-year-old man had returned and discharged a handgun multiple times, striking and killing his 56-year-old brother, according to Breen.

Witnesses said the 59-year-old then shot himself, Breen said. He is from Malone. His younger brother is from Winlock.

Breen said the sheriff’s office is conducting an investigation and he expects the names of the brothers will be released by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A Centralia area man is off to prison with a seven year sentence for hitting a pedestrian on a sidewalk with his car outside the Southwest Washington Fair grounds this summer.

Christian D. Brown, 30, admitted using methamphetamine earlier in the day, prosecutors said at the time.

Wednesday August 16, 2017

Brown pleaded guilty in Lewis County Superior Court on Wednesday to vehicular assault and possession of heroin and also to two counts of drug possession from an earlier case.

The judge found a chemical dependency contributed to the crime and ordered a drug and alcohol evaluation, according to court documents.

Brown was arrested by Centralia police on Aug. 16, after the mid-day incident at the 1900 block of South Gold Street during fair week. Witnesses told police the car was going about 35 mph when it traveled onto the east sidewalk and hit the man.

When his car came to a stop, the victim fell off its hood, court documents related.

The victim, a 58-year-old Chehalis resident who was attending the fair with family, was airlifted with several traumatic injuries to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The 84-month sentence was the top of the standard sentencing range for vehicular assault, a range specific to Brown given the number of “points” Brown had accrued from previous criminal convictions, according to his lawyer Jacob Clark.

The judge ordered 24-month sentences for the drug crimes, to be served concurrently, Clark said.

Also on Wednesday in Lewis County Superior Court, a 20-year-old defendant was sentenced by a different judge for vehicular assault while under the influence.

Brenden K. Banta, from Kalama, and his 17-year-old passenger from Woodland were both injured when Banta’s car ran into the back of a semi truck on northbound Interstate 5 near milepost 60 the night of April 21, according to authorities.

Banta admitted he had consumed a “few shots” and smoked a bowl prior, court documents stated.

Court documents relate the hood of his Kia Soul entered the right passenger compartment, causing a gash in the passenger’s forehead that exposed the skull.

Banta had an offender score of zero so the standard sentencing range for his conviction was three to nine months in jail. The judge imposed four months and ordered a drug and alcohol evaluation, according to court documents.
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For background, read “Bail set at $1 million for driver accused of hitting man on sidewalk” from Friday August 18, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Campfires will be allowed once again under certain conditions beginning tomorrow in unincorporated Lewis County since weather conditions have improved, according to authorities.

The city of Centralia will rescind its temporary ban on outdoor recreational fires at the same time.

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A total outdoor burn ban was enacted at the beginning of August because of wildfire danger.

“After careful review of the current and extended weather forecast, the Lewis County community development director and fire marshal, in conjunction with the Lewis County Fire Chief’s Association … will modify the burn restriction to allow recreational campfires in designated campgrounds and on private lands if built in the following manner,” Lewis County Community Development Director Lee Napier stated in a press release today.

Here’s what’s required of your campfire and you:

• Shall be no greater than three feet in diameter and have a ring constructed of metal, stone, or brick which is eight inches above the surface with a two-foot wide area surrounding the outside of the pit cleared down to the soil.

• Shall have an area of at least 10 feet around it cleared of all flammable materials, with at least 20 feet of clearance overhead from flammable materials or fuels.

• Must be attended at all times by a responsible person at least 16 years old, with the ability to extinguish the fire with a shovel and a five-gallon bucket of water or with a connected and charged garden hose.

• When finished, someone must completely extinguish campfire by pouring water or moist soil into it and stir with a shovel until all parts are cool to the touch.

• The use of self-contained camp stoves are encouraged as an alternative.

The Lewis County fire marshal and fire chiefs strongly urge all county residents and visitors to be attentive to the conditions of their properties through proactive fire prevention measures.

The changes are effective at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, Friday.

Chehalis Fire Department Chief Ken Cardinale sent out a press release today also with the title “City of Chehalis Burn Restrictions Modified – To Allow Recreational Fires” which states that beginning at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, recreational fires using approved barbecues will be allowed at all city parks, including using charcoal briquettes.

For further information about what is and is not allowed in Chehalis, call the fire department at 360-748-3394.

For questions in the city of Centralia, call Riverside Fire Authority at 360-736-3975.

For information regarding unincorporated Lewis County, contact Lewis County Fire Marshal Doyle Sanford at 360-740-2696. The 24-hour automated information line can be accessed by calling  360-740-1133.

Lewis County’s Community Development Director Napier also noted today that the ban on open burning in unincorporated Lewis County will be modified again beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 16.

Outdoor burning of garbage, paper and other refuse is always prohibited.

Jason A. Brown waits to be escorted back to the jail after hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 35-year-old man accused of taking a wallet from an elderly man’s pocket in broad daylight in the parking lot of a Morton grocery store pleaded guilty today to amended charges and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

Jason A. Brown, 35, was arrested in early September for the events of Aug. 29 at the Country Market. He was initially charged with second-degree robbery, with police and prosecutors alleging various slightly different versions than a deputy prosecutor described to the judge today.

The 83-year-old victim who lives in Morton was not present in the courtroom in Lewis County Superior Court this morning.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead told the judge he dropped the robbery charge and replaced it with a charge of first-degree theft. He said he and defense attorney Kevin Nelson agreed however to recommend the defendant be given a sentence above the standard sentencing range.

Halstead said for robbery, there has to be some kind of violence or threat of violence. He told the judge he watched the surveillance video and saw something slightly different.

The victim walks out of the store and the suspect asks him for a couple of dollars, and the victim says no, according to Halstead.

The images show the victim then gets to his car, the suspect comes up behind him and takes the wallet from his pocket, and then leaves, he said.

When it happened, Morton Police Department Chief Roger Morningstar posted photos of the suspect and the suspect’s car on Facebook, and later reached out to David Rose, host of the television show Washington’s Most Wanted.

On Sept. 8, someone recognized the suspect at the Mossy Mini Shell station, called 911 and followed the suspect to an RV park in Silver Creek, where police subsequently found Brown inside a motorhome and took him into custody.

Brown also pleaded guilty this morning to residential burglary, for an Aug. 21 incident on Southeast First Street when police found him walking out the front door of a house with various items and found the back door kicked in.

Defense attorney Nelson told the judge he felt the resolution was a fair outcome, and that he and his client had talked about pleading guilty from the very beginning.

“Mr. Brown accepts full responsibility for both these acts,” Nelson said.

Judge Joely O’Rourke accepted Brown’s pleas of guilty and sentenced him to one year and a day in both cases, with the time to be served concurrently.
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For background, read “Man who allegedly mugged Morton senior located at Silver Creek campground” from Monday September 11, 2017, here