Man killed for parking in vacant lot, throwing liquid ‘had it coming,’ shooter’s brother says
There was a history of confrontation between a Parkland man and the person he shot to death for parking in a vacant lot, records say.
Kenneth Salazar, 45, lived in a rented home in the 13400 block of C Street South. A fence separated the home from an empty grass and gravel lot owned by the Dryer Masonic Center. The lot is used for overflow parking.
Shortly before midnight Sunday, a 30-year-old man and his girlfriend parked their van on the lot, allegedly to smoke marijuana.
Salazar and his brother went outside to confront the man, who died after Salazar allegedly shot him in the face.
The victim has not been publicly identified.
On Tuesday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Salazar with second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty at arraignment, and Superior Court Judge Thomas P. Quinlan set bail at $750,000.
Salazar allegedly told dispatchers that he shot the victim because the victim threw a cup of urine at him and he thought it was a gun.
Forensic experts were unable to determine what the liquid was. The victim’s girlfriend said he was carrying a soda when he got out of the van.
Charging papers give this account of the shooting:
The victim and his girlfriend had encountered Salazar once or twice before the homicide. In one of the incidents, one of the Salazar brothers approached the woman as she ate a salad and told her she was trespassing. He filmed her and had a handgun visible inside his sweatshirt, records say.
Salazar’s brother, who filmed Sunday’s confrontation and shooting, made antagonizing remarks to sheriff’s deputies and said the victim “had it coming,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
“His comments included telling the deputies that they were violating their rights, and claiming that the incident was the fault of the Sheriff’s Department because they had ‘refused to do anything,’” according to charging papers.
Investigators reviewed the cell phone video from Salazar’s brother, where the brothers can be heard telling the victim he needs to leave because he’s trespassing, and the victim insists he’s not doing anything wrong.
The victim then apparently threw a cup of liquid at the Salazars and almost immediately a shot rang out.
Salazar’s brother told investigators he thought the victim was reaching for a weapon after throwing the liquid, and he reached for his own gun to shoot him, but Salazar was quicker.
The victim was not armed.
“The cell phone video provided by (Salazar’s brother) does not support his version of events,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Investigators also suspect Salazar’s brother might have deleted video surveillance footage from two cameras on the outside of their home.
A deputy mistakenly allowed Salazar’s brother into the home after the shooting, presumably to use the bathroom. When investigators checked the hard drive for footage of the shooting, they discovered a nearly four-hour gap in the recording that did not start again until after 911 had been called.
Prosecutors said Salazar has a prior felony conviction in Ohio from 1999 for two counts of robbery, so they may later add a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Defense attorney Erin White told the court Tuesday that her client has never been to Ohio.
“It isn’t him, frankly,” she said.
White told the judge her client’s criminal history includes one DUI from years ago.
She also argued that the allegation that his brother deleted surveillance footage doesn’t make sense, because he was also filming on his phone.
Quinlan said White had persuaded him regarding the Ohio convictions, and noted Salazar’s lack of criminal history when he set bail.
Staff writer Alexis Krell contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 12:04 PM.
