Cell phone found at scene of deadly shooting near Puyallup helps deputies ID suspects
Two teens charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 19-year-old man near Puyallup in January allegedly knew the victim and had set out to rob him, court records show.
Joseph Lizarraga-Ortiz, 17, and Antonio Adan Yescas, 18, were charged Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court with killing Wesley Jose Molinero Dominguez, who died from a gunshot wound to the head on Jan. 28.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the incident, which occurred near the 12600 block of 90th Avenue East, a homicide.
Yescas and Lizarraga-Ortiz were arraigned Thursday and Friday, respectively, and not guilty pleas were entered on their behalf, court records show.
The News Tribune is naming Lizarraga-Ortiz because defendants who are at least 16 years old and charged with a serious violent offense, such as first-degree murder, are automatically prosecuted as adults, according to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege that Dominguez and Yescas had been messaging on Instagram prior to the shooting about Yescas’s intent to buy $90 worth of marijuana from Dominguez, according to charging papers.
When Dominguez and his girlfriend arrived at the location, two men in black clothing and ski masks approached the vehicle and demanded “all their (stuff),” the victim’s girlfriend told authorities.
Dominguez reportedly recognized one of the men and said, “Joseph, you’re not going to shoot me, you’re my friend,” before that man allegedly shot the victim in the face, charging papers show. Detectives said they later learned that the victim and Lizarraga-Ortiz were acquainted, citing a “report from 2019” that indicated the two had planned to fight while attending different junior high schools.
Investigators said they used witness interviews, cell-phone data, surveillance footage and social media records to piece together the suspects’ whereabouts before, during and after the shooting, and to connect the suspects to each other, charging papers show.
A clue was also left behind: a cell phone on the ground outside the driver’s side door of the victim’s vehicle. That phone, which authorities said they later connected to Yescas, led to the discovery of the Instagram communications, according to charging papers.
While executing a search warrant at Yescas’s home this week, detectives located a black sweatshirt “with stains,” three balaclava face masks and three .223-caliber shell casings, court records show. Police have not found any guns.
