Teen was ordered to shoot Tacoma man who tried to break up fight, charges say
A 16-year-old boy is accused of fatally shooting a Tacoma man earlier this year after being told to do so.
Prosecutors charged Jason Dale Lenahan Jr. with first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Lenahan is accused of killing 18-year-old Kadony Robbins on Feb. 14.
A plea of not guilty was entered on the 16-year-old’s behalf during his arraignment Thursday afternoon. Judge Joseph Evans set his bail at $1 million.
His co-defendant, a 16-year-old boy, has been charged with first-degree murder. The boy was 15-years-old when the alleged murder occurred. He is being held in secure detention at Remann Hall. A hearing has been scheduled for June 17 to decline his charges to adult court, according to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Officers were dispatched on Feb. 14 to an apartment building in the 1300 block of South G Street for a reported homicide. Robbins was found on the ground in the doorway to the apartments suffering a gunshot wound, according to charging documents. Shell casings were scattered in the area.
Robbins was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, prosecutors wrote. Detectives learned there was a party in one of the apartments and the then-15-year-old was a friend or acquaintance of one of the people attending.
Robbins’ girlfriend told detectives that she and the victim were at the building for a get-together. It was getting loud in the apartment so everyone was asked to leave, prosecutors wrote.
An argument ensued between the then-15-year-old and an older man, according to another witness. The teen and his friends were asked to leave and the argument continued, prosecutors wrote. Robbins attempted to escort the teenager out, documents show. Robbins’ girlfriend told detectives that Robbins was yelling at the teenager after the defendant hit her.
The teenager allegedly told his cousin, later identified as Lenahan, to shoot Robbins, documents show. Lenahan fired a shot at Robbins, which struck him in the chest. Lenahan and the teen ran off right after, according to the girlfriend.
The teenager was arrested after he showed up at the hospital. Robbins’ friends confirmed to police that the teen had ordered the shooting, documents show.
Detectives identified Lenahan as the alleged shooter through witness statements, cell-phone records allegedly showing his phone near the homicide scene and text messages between him and the teen, documents show. Detectives said a message the teenager allegedly sent to Lenahan told him to get rid of a gun. Lenahan responded by saying that he already did.
