Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Greetings readers.

If you have gone to Lewis County Sirens Facebook group page this afternoon, you’ve gotten bits and pieces from me, from the courthouse via Brittany Voie, about the outcome of the coroner’s inquest.

There is still conversation going on there, so you might want to check that out while I write some news here.

Photos will be coming as well, here.

(Also, if you have not seen them, there is a whole series of photos from inside the courtroom posted here on Lewis County Sirens yesterday. Scroll down)

Your news reporter, Sharyn L. Decker
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More to come

This was updated at 11:30 a.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed today they believe foul play was involved in the case of the woman whose skeletal remains were found near Morton this past spring.

Artists rendering

A motorist who pulled off U.S. Highway 12 to take a break spotted the remains off the side of a logging road about 5:30 p.m. on April 7.

The sheriff’s office has revealed very little about the case, but today released an artist’s sketch they hope will help them identify the woman.

“Obviously we’re at a standstill in the case until we find out who she is,” Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

An image was made by studying the facial bones of the female they say is believed to have been between 20 and 35 years old when she died.

She is described as small in stature and possibly of mixed ethnicity.

An examination by a specialist at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office could not determine the cause of death, according to Brown.

The discovery was made 100 yards up a logging road just outside Morton, according to the sheriff’ office. They still won’t specify where, even if that was east or west of town.

“We’re not giving the exact location because whoever killed her knows those details,” Brown said.

The sheriff’s office is not commenting on whether they believe the woman died there or elsewhere but have previously said it was doubtful the remains had been there very long, because it was a well-used logging road.

The sheriff’s office isn’t yet saying what they were told by the expert for an estimate of how long ago the woman had died, in part because they have not yet received the report, according to Brown.

Dental records and DNA from the deceased have been entered into databases with no matches found.

Anyone with any information about this female or the case is asked to call the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Crime Stoppers – if the person wishes to remain anonymous –  at 1-800-748-6422.

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Read previous story: “New lead in possible identity of Morton skeletal remains” from Thursday Sept. 22, 2011, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A judge yesterday sentenced a Chehalis man to a little more than 15 years in prison for shooting a woman outside a Napavine apartment in early June.

Javier Jimenez Villalavazo

Javier Jimenez Villalavazo, 23, reportedly called the 24-year-old and her family a snitch before firing several rounds at her as she got back inside a car. Eloisa Cruz-Garcia was struck twice in her right leg and survived.

Sheriff’s deputies said he went by the nickname “The Joker”.

Villalavazo initially pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault, but following a plea deal, he admitted in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday that he shot her, according to court documents.

Prosecutors dropped the firearms enhancement part of the charge which would have automatically tacked five years onto his prison time.

Villalavazo faced a standard sentencing range between 138 months and 184 months.

Judge Richard Brosey gave him 15 years and four months.

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Read related stories:

• “Motive: Alleged shooter thought Centralia woman “snitched”” from Thursday June 9, 2011, here

• “News brief: Four booked as detectives seek suspected Napavine shooter” from Wednesday June 8, 2011 at 7:28 p.m., here

• “News brief: Law enforcement searching for Napavine shooting suspect” from Monday June 6, 2011 at 3:39 p.m., here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An Olympia man has pleaded guilty to illegal gun selling following an investigation that began with an undercover federal agent purchasing a revolver from him at a gun show in Centralia, according to Seattlepi.com

News reporter Levi Pulkkinen writes today that David Devenny – the 69-year-old also accused of selling the gun allegedly used by Christopher Montfort to kill Seattle Police officer Tim Brenton – is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 23 in U.S. District Court.

Devenny was accused of selling guns to a convicted felon and a person with a domestic violence conviction.

A former Bremerton police officer pleaded guilty last week to unlawful dealing in firearms, in a case that also began with the undercover operations at guns shows in Washington.
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Read “Illegal gun dealer who sold rifle used to kill Seattle cop plead guilty” from  Seattlepi.com on Monday October 17,  2011 at 5:03 p.m., here

Read further background on Devenny here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 24-year-old South Thurston County man was found guilty by a jury this afternoon of two counts of vehicular assault and also hit and run.

Kody M. Chipman, whose residence has been described as both in Rochester and Tenino, was on trial in Thurston County Superior Court.

Two men were seriously injured when Chipman knocked them down with the open door of his car when he fled a confrontation about his speeding on a private driveway in Olympia in late March.

Chipman most recently lived with his grandmother in Littlerock whom he has been helping take care of.

Sharon Hallman, 64, said psychiatrists from both sides agreed about her grandson’s ‘fearful response” to the men’s confrontation, but jurors weren’t allowed to hear from them.

Chipman’s attorney spoke to the jury after they reached their verdict and they told him regardless of what the two men did, the car outweighed them, Hallman said.

Dee L. Cooper, 70, of Olympia, and Daniel I. Kitchings, 37, of Rainier, were attending a scout meeting off of South Bay Road and were standing on the driver’s side of the car, when Chipman put the car in reverse and drove off, according to the Washington State Patrol after the March 31 incident.

Hallman said she was told her grandson faces as much as 10 years when he is sentenced on October 26.

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Read more, here