Machete used to kill Spokane man at downtown 7-Eleven
A man who was killed after a large fight broke out at a downtown Spokane 7-Eleven early Tuesday morning died from a machete wound to his heart.
Multiple witnesses told Spokane police that Lance Ogle, 35, and a group of about “15 to 20” people were involved in a scuffle at about 2:30 a.m. in the north side of a parking lot at the convenience store on the corner of Second Avenue and Division Street.
During the brawl, according the court documents, one witness saw 29-year-old Andre A. Conway pull out an 18-inch long machete with an orange and black handle from his backpack and swing once at Ogle’s chest in a “striking motion.” The victim was then blindsided by a punch from another person, and as he fell to the ground, was punched and kicked as a female yelled “Kill him! Kill him!”
Several witnesses identified Conway in a police lineup as the attacker wielding the machete, say court records. He was arrested at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Sprague Avenue and Browne Street.
No other arrests have been made, police said Wednesday. The investigation is still active.
Conway, who has a long felony history in Spokane County, refused to be transported to a court hearing Wednesday afternoon, delaying his first appearance before a Spokane County District Court judge. He’s facing charges of first-degree murder and robbery.
Conway’s earlier convictions included assault, theft, escape from community custody, robbery, resisting arrest and more. In 2011, a rival gang member attempted to shoot him during Hoopfest, according to newspaper reports. Three bystanders were injured instead, with at least two needing hospital treatment for minor wounds.
Witnesses say, however, that it wasn’t Conway who instigated the violence in the 7-Eleven brawl. According to court records, Ogle was involved in a drug deal and after reportedly demanding his money back from a man and woman, chased the man and physically threatened him.
Another witness saw Ogle return to the store, where he began punching a woman after she pepper-sprayed him in the face. A fight broke out shortly after.
That same man who ran from Ogle was stopped by a Spokane police officer who happened to be nearby. After hearing yelling from the parking lot, the officer found Ogle lying in a large pool of blood, with more blood pouring from a wound on his upper chest area. He was pronounced dead at 3:22 a.m.
Records say the Spokane County medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be a stab wound to the heart. The manner of death was listed as homicide.
Witnesses told officers that after hitting Ogle with the machete, Conway ditched the weapon under a car and ran away with Ogle’s cellphone, which he disassembled. Records say police later found the machete under a car just north of the convenience store on Pacific Avenue.
As news of Ogle’s death spread, his friends took to social media to remember him. Brenda Roberts, who said she’s known him for about five years, said he was a “great guy filled with love and happiness.”
“He could bring a smile to anyone’s face, just with the energy he projects,” she wrote in a private Facebook message. “It’s truly heartbreaking that he left this world the way he did. He deserved better.”
Roberts’ aunt also posted on Facebook upon hearing the news.
“I’m so heartbroken to hear a really great guy lost his life,” she wrote. “Lance Jordan Ogle you will be missed, always loved and will never be forgotten.”