Man, 25, Becomes Year’S First Homicide Victim Body Found Saturday; Police Responded Friday Night To Reports Of Shots Fired Near 10Th And Maple

Residents of a lower South Hill neighborhood woke up Saturday to see a house ringed in yellow police tape. The body of a 25-year-old man was discovered in the back yard.

Police called it a homicide, the first of the year in Spokane.

Details of the killing were not released.

Officers responded Friday night to reports of shots fired near 10th and Maple, but didn’t find anything.

Shortly before dawn, somebody called to report the body - spotted lying in the grass behind a large white house at 1425 W. 10th.

Police have tentatively identified the victim but withheld releasing his name pending notification of relatives.

The apparent shooting outraged some residents.

James Killaine said he was sitting at his typewriter Friday night in front of a window facing the white house.

Around 9:30 p.m., Killaine said he heard one shot followed by several more in quick succession.

“I stood up and came to the door,” Killaine said. He saw four people leaving the area. When they saw him, they turned and walked the opposite direction.

He stepped out onto his porch. Several neighbors did the same.

“This is a very good, working-class neighborhood,” he said. “I’ve watched the deterioration and the criminal class come in.”

He suspects heavy drug activity in the area is to blame, but police spokesman Dick Cottam wouldn’t speculate on a motive. No arrests had been made late Saturday.

When the reports came in about shots being fired, no specific details were provided, Lt. Gene Ziegler said.

“Friday is our busiest time,” he said. “If they would have given us a specific address or reported a man down, we would have been right there.”

The crime was the talk of the morning at the Zip-Trip minimart across the street from where the body was found.

“I can’t recall a person who’s come in and hasn’t asked what’s going on,” said Greg Parker, the assistant manager.

From what people told him, between 6 and 15 shots were fired.

The neighborhood lost its community policing station at 10th and Lincoln in October, when the building owner decided to use the space differently. A new cop shop is expected to open soon at Maple and Sixth.

“A murder is out of character for the area,” said Marty Davis, acting chairman of the Cliff/Cannon Neighborhood Council. “It’s absolutely devastating.”

But not hopeless.

“We’re starting to get together to do Block Watch groups,” said Davis’ wife, Janet, program manager with the city’s office of neighborhood services.

“Within a few blocks’ radius here, we’ve had garage break-ins,” she said. “We’ve usually not had that.”

Janet Davis said 10th and Maple has had a history of trouble with drug houses. There has also been a recent rash of gang-style graffiti in the vicinity.