Suspect in Spanaway killing had quarreled with victim over domestic dispute, charges say
A man accused of shooting and killing a man Monday evening in the front yard of a Spanaway home was charged Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court.
Charging documents say the defendant and the victim knew each other and had been in physical altercations prior to the shooting. A witness who knows the defendant told deputies he at one point accused her of being in a relationship with the victim.
Michael Jerome Matthews, 31, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.
He pleaded not guilty at arraignment Thursday and is being held without bail.
Matthews is charged in the death of 29-year-old Denerio Ferguson. He died of multiple gunshot wounds at the scene of the shooting in the 200 block of 165th Street South.
A witness told deputies Matthews was the father of one of her children and that he and Ferguson had been friends, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. She told deputies Ferguson was staying with her and Matthews while he visited from Georgia.
While staying with them, the witness said, an issue of trust came up between the two men. About a week before the shooting, Matthews allegedly showed up at the witnesses’ place of work and said he believed something was going on between her and Ferguson.
Matthews was arrested Tuesday.
Matthews previously pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and harassment causing bodily injury in 2019 in Pierce County.
Charging documents gave this account of what happened:
Shooting in Spanaway
Deputies from Pierce County Sheriff’s Department responded at about 8:30 p.m. Nov. 1 to the 200 block of 165th Street South for a report of shots fired and a man who was down.
When deputies arrived, they found Ferguson lying in the grass with gunshot wounds to his chest and lower abdomen. He was pronounced dead at 8:42 p.m.
A witness told deputies the victim was a friend of the father of one of her children. The father was later identified as Matthews. In an initial interview, she told deputies she was inside when she heard gunshots and went outside to see the victim on the ground and Matthews fleeing.
In a subsequent interview with detectives, she said she saw Matthews and Ferguson fighting before the shooting, according to the probable cause statement. She said she heard a scuffle and looked up from inside her residence to see two men on top of the victim and two women she didn’t know trying to break up the fight.
The witness went outside to try to separate the men, prosecutors wrote, and she and two other women ended up dragging Matthews back inside by his coat.
Inside, the witness said she saw Matthews was holding a black handgun. Prosecutors wrote the woman tried to push him into the couch to keep him from going back toward the door, but she heard him cock his gun, and she ran to the kitchen.
Then, the witness said she heard a gunshot near the front door, followed by Matthews running past her through the house to exit through the garage. She said Matthews ran to the grass where the victim was, and she heard more shots, but she didn’t see Matthews.
Ferguson had been visiting from Georgia, and the witness told detectives Matthews became paranoid about him while he visited. According to the probable cause statement, she said Matthews had issues with alcohol and his mental health.
Standoff and arrest
While deputies were interviewing witnesses at the scene, they learned Matthews might have broken into his mother’s home.
Deputies went to the mother’s residence Nov. 2 to apprehend Matthews. Deputies used a PA system to order him to leave and deployed a noise-flash distraction device. Matthews exited after 90 minutes.
Prosecutors wrote Matthews didn’t comply with deputies’ orders when he exited. He didn’t put his hands up and was reaching into his clothing, according to the probable cause statement. Deputies approached him with a shield and were able to detain him.
Matthews was transported to the hospital because deputies were concerned he might have consumed drugs and a large amount of alcohol, prosecutors wrote in the charging documents.
Inside the house, deputies recovered an ammo box with several Blazer 9mm Luger cartridges that matched shell casings found at the scene of the shooting. A gun detection dog found a gun allegedly used in the shooting. Prosecutors wrote that the gun had been reported stolen.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 12:47 PM.
