Four men face murder charges in South Hill killing

Spokane police arrested on Wednesday four men accused in a brutal robbery-turned-homicide on the lower South Hill last week.

Isaiah S. Freeman, 24; Christopher J. Hall, 34; Ricky A. Cox, 29; and Richard J. Richardson, 49, allegedly beat, stabbed and strangled Damien Stewart, 33, in his apartment at 525 S. Hatch St. All four face charges of first-degree murder.

Stewart’s body was found by one of his friends Sunday, court records say. Police noticed a “very clear footprint on the entire right side of his face.” In interviews with police, the accused indicated the killing occurred late on Jan. 23.

According to court documents, a woman who recently visited Stewart’s home told investigators she saw Hall and Cox there the day before the murder. She said they argued with Stewart over Hall’s food stamp card, which Stewart apparently had taken.

The woman also told investigators Hall had made comments about killing someone, and said the two men were staying at a homeless shelter downtown. Police spoke to Cox and Hall at the House of Charity, where they were living.

When interviewed, Cox said he and Hall knew Stewart prior to the killing and brought Freeman and Richardson to Stewart’s house, according to court documents.

Richardson told police he heard the other suspects talking about retrieving Hall’s food stamp card and committing a “drug rip,” taking drugs Stewart allegedly owed Hall and any other drugs they could find in the home.

Hall told police he and Cox brought the other two men along as an “intimidation factor” against the victim.

According to court documents, those three men admitted their involvement in the crime and said all four took part in beating, punching and kicking Stewart. But the men blamed Freeman for the most violent portions of the attack, including attempting to slit the victim’s throat with a butcher knife and beating him with a speaker box and frying pan, documents say.

Spokane County Medical Examiner Dr. Sally Aiken determined Stewart died from asphyxiation due to manual compression of his neck.

Freeman, who uses the nickname “East Coast,” told investigators he spent time with the other men at 7-Eleven the night of the murder and couldn’t remember his whereabouts before that.

Bail for each of the four men was set at $1 million in court Thursday.

Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell argued for the state, calling the crime “unnecessary,” “wanton” and “gratuitous in terms of the level of violence.”

The four suspects were represented by the same public defender at their initial court appearance. Three of them will be appointed different attorneys to avoid a conflict of interest, since they have implicated each other in the crime.