Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Parking dispute sparked argument leading to fatal Kent shooting, charges say

By Sara Jean Green Seattle Times

A 71-year-old Kent man was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder, accused of escalating a parking dispute into a shoving match before pulling a gun and fatally shooting a man in front of the victim’s young son, prosecutors say.

Stephen Tullier was arrested on suspicion of shooting 28-year-old Juan Bacio Vazquez in the abdomen Aug. 19 in the parking lot of the Riverwood Apartments in the 24600 block of Russell Road South, charging papers say. Tullier remains jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 7.

Charging papers say a crying child, later identified as Bacio Vazquez’s 10-year-old son, approached a Kent police officer at the shooting scene and shared a cellphone video of the fatal encounter.

The 21/2-minute video showed Bacio Vazquez and Tullier yelling at each other and Tullier trying to punch Bacio Vazquez, according to the charges.

Bacio Vazquez challenged Tullier to fight but demanded he first “put the gun away,” and Tullier was heard on the recording denying he was armed, the charges say. Tullier shoved Bacio Vazquez five times, and after the fifth push, Bacio Vazquez was heard saying, “You pulled a gun out,” according to the charges.

The video then pans away but captured the sound of slapping and showed Bacio Vazquez’s glasses fall to the ground before panning back to Bacio Vazquez, who appeared to ball his fists, say the charges. Tullier wasn’t in the frame when the video captured the sound of a gunshot.

Detectives learned the dispute between the two men began after Tullier confronted a woman about illegally parking in a fire lane and partially blocking Tullier’s assigned spot, according to the charges. After a heated exchange with the woman, she drove off and Tullier returned to his third-floor apartment, the charges say.

Tullier, who was already armed with a 9 mm handgun, heard a man yelling obscenities at him from the parking lot shortly thereafter and went down to confront him, say the charges, which don’t indicate the woman’s relationship to Bacio Vazquez.

Tullier claimed Bacio Vazquez repeatedly punched him in the head, causing him to fall down some stairs before he fired in self-defense, according to charging papers. But Tullier’s account was contradicted by the boy’s video and a statement from another resident, who attempted to de-escalate the argument and witnessed the shooting, the charges say.

The witness told police the men were in a shoving match when Bacio Vazquez pushed Tullier down four steps. Tullier then got up, walked up the stairs and shot Bacio Vazquez, the witness reported.

The witness said “Bacio Vazquez did not make any aggressive movements towards Tullier” before he was shot, a detective wrote in charging papers.