Third Tacoma teen charged in fatal shooting that occurred during suspected vehicle prowl
A third person has been charged in a fatal shooting that occurred after a suspected vehicle prowl was interrupted in Tacoma.
Prosecutors charged Dominick Blair Byrd, 18, with two counts of second-degree murder on Friday, according to court documents. Byrd is accused of fatally shooting James Marsh, 53, outside the victim’s home.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Byrd’s behalf during his arraignment. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille set his bail at $1 million, records show.
Elijah Alexander Andrews, 18, was charged in Pierce County Superior Court Jan. 15 with two counts of second-degree murder, The News Tribune reported. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. The judge in the case ordered that the name of the third defendant, 17-year-old boy, not be publicly released while the investigation is ongoing.
Detectives identified Byrd as the third suspect in Marsh’s death through a witness statement, phone logs and a jail phone call between the teen and Andrews.
Police were dispatched at 2:21 a.m. to the 4800 block of North 18th Street for reports of shots fired. Marsh was lying in the street in front of his home when officers arrived. He was injured from several gunshot wounds and was later declared dead at 2:37 a.m., according to a probable cause document.
Officers spoke to 911 callers who reported seeing an older silver vehicle drive away on North 18th Street. There was also a vehicle across the street parked in front of another home with its driver’s side door open, documents show.
Marsh’s girlfriend told detectives she was asleep before police arrived, prosecutors wrote. When she woke up to the police pounding on her door, she realized Marsh was no longer inside the home.
Through their investigation, detectives learned from surveillance footage that three people were in the middle of a vehicle prowl in the neighborhood. Two people were looking into Marsh’s Land Rover Range Rover and a vehicle across the street, prosecutors wrote. Footage showed Marsh coming out towards the street where two people were, and lights flashed between the cars.
The people ran back to their vehicle and drove off. Footage allegedly showed there was also a third person involved.
Following the unnamed teen’s arrest on Jan. 10, detectives reviewed a jail call between him and Andrews where they discuss someone named “Dom” turning himself in, prosecutors wrote. The teen and Andrews alleged during the call that three of them were there during the shooting.
Through a police database, detectives learned Andrews was listed in a police report with Byrd, prosecutors wrote. A witness who was close to Andrews told detectives that “Dom Byrd” was the third person involved in the homicide and was the person to “fire the gun.”
Byrd’s phone records also allegedly showed that his phone was in the area of where Marsh lived right before police were dispatched to the scene. His phone was also in the area where another vehicle prowl occurred prior to the shooting, prosecutors wrote.
Officers arrested Byrd on Wednesday after he left his apartment, prosecutors wrote.
Byrd has not been previously convicted with a crime, records show.
