Man accused in Tacoma fatal shooting ‘knocked out’ victim earlier that day, charges say
A man accused of shooting and killing a 30-year-old man last month in the parking lot of a Tacoma apartment complex was arraigned Monday in Pierce County Superior Court.
A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Jesse Henry, 30, on April 14, when prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for the fatal shooting of Brian Roberts Jr.
Henry was arrested Thursday in Centralia by local police after he and two others were stopped in a vehicle on Interstate 5. Centralia Police Department said Henry was stopped after officers were dispatched for a report of a theft at a grocery store. Police said all three people in the car initially gave false names, but officers figured out their real names and discovered Henry had a warrant for his arrest in Pierce County.
The defendant pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon. Ronald Culpepper, a retired Superior Court judge filling in, set bail at $3 million.
Henry has prior convictions in Pierce County for second-degree burglary and indecent liberties, according to court records. He was charged in October with second-degree theft for allegedly stealing cash from a cash register and other items during his first shift as a clerk at a gas station in University Place. He was arraigned on that charge Monday as well.
The fatal shooting occurred at about 9 p.m. April 8 at the Pacific Lodge Apartments in the 8800 block of Pacific Avenue. Tacoma Police Department officers responded and found the victim unresponsive in the parking lot. Roberts was transported to an area hospital, where he later died. The Pierce County Medical Examiner determined Roberts died of a shotgun wound to the abdomen.
Charging documents filed against the defendant don’t point to a clear motive for why he would have killed Roberts, but the men allegedly fought earlier that day and Roberts was “knocked out.” According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, Henry called a manager at the apartment complex at some point, telling him, “If he comes back on the property with my kids, I’m going to kill him.”
Charging papers gave this account:
Just after 7 p.m. on April 8, a 911 caller told South Sound 911 dispatchers that someone tried to attack a security guard at the Pacific Lodge Apartments. The caller reported that the security guard knocked out the man who allegedly attacked him and left the scene.
About two hours later, a 911 caller from the same location reported that a man had just been shot. Tacoma police responded and located a man shot in the parking lot. The victim, later identified as Roberts, died of his injuries at St. Joseph Medical Center.
Witnesses told police the shooter was a man who lived at the apartment complex and who was “kind of like a security guard,” for it. According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, that man was identified as Henry.
A woman contacted police at the scene who said she was the victim’s girlfriend and the ex-girlfriend of Henry, with whom she had a child. According to the probable cause document, the woman said Roberts had followed her in a car earlier that day after the two got in an argument at the apartment complex.
The woman said Roberts stopped following her once she drove to a police station, and Henry and his current girlfriend eventually picked her up and brought her to another apartment on South 58th Street before they all returned to Henry’s place at Pacific Lodge Apartments.
After a few minutes, Roberts drove back into the parking lot, and Henry went outside with a gun to confront him. According to the probable cause document, Henry told his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend to leave. As they were walking away, Henry’s ex-girlfriend heard three gunshots. The women ran to the apartment manager’s office, and a short time later Henry pulled up in a red Honda. All of them went to Henry’s brother’s apartment.
Detectives interviewed the defendant’s brother, who said Henry came to his apartment twice that day. The first time, Henry called a manager at Pacific Lodge Apartments, allegedly telling him “if he comes back on the property with my kids, I’m going to kill him,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
The second time Henry was at his brother’s apartment, he allegedly told him, “You know what I just had to do, I had to shoot Brian.”
A manager at the apartment complex told detectives he’d found Roberts knocked out earlier that day near Henry’s door. Later in the day, he saw Henry carrying around what he believed to be a shotgun. According to the probable cause document, he said he thought Henry went back to his apartment, but a short time later he heard yelling and gunshots.
The day after the fatal shooting, the red Honda Civic witnesses said Henry had been driving was recovered by Puyallup Tribal Police near Pioneer Way in Tacoma. The vehicle had been reported stolen.
On April 12, detectives were canvassing hotels for information on a different homicide when an employee at a hotel on South Tacoma Way said they had seen Henry and his girlfriend the day before. According to the probable cause document, the couple told hotel staff they were going on a long trip.
