Fatal shooting in Tacoma stemmed from iPhone sale

A fatal shooting in Tacoma started with a man trying to sell his iPhone.

He and a friend agreed to meet 21-year-old William Edwards outside a convenience store in Central Tacoma Monday after Edwards expressed interest in buying the phone.

The men later said Edwards was “acting squirrely,” records show.

His girlfriend, 19-year-old Zyaire Cannon, waited in the parking lot in the 2700 block of South 12th Street.

After Edwards grabbed the phone to check it out, he began inching away.

One of the men reached out to stop him.

“Edwards became irate, grabbing (him) by the shirt, pulling out a handgun and putting it against (his) head shouting, ‘Don’t ever run up on me. I’ll (expletive) kill you,’ ” according to court documents.

The man tried to push the barrel of the gun away from his head.

Edwards then demanded his wallet.

The man “pretended to comply and said he would give the wallet to Edwards,” records show.

He “reached for his waistband where he had a handgun, quickly removed it and fired two shots at Edwards.”

Cannon ran screaming from the parking lot, grabbed the gun beside her boyfriend and allegedly shoved it into his backpack before walking toward the back of the building.

Police found the backpack with a gun inside a fenced area.

Edwards was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives questioned the 25-year-old man who shot him but decided not to arrest him since it appeared to be a case of self-defense.

Prosecutors will review the case and decide whether to file charges.

On Wednesday, Cannon pleaded not guilty to first-degree rendering criminal assistance before being released on her own recognizance.

She may face future charges, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Fatal shooting in Tacoma stemmed from iPhone sale."