Man accused of shooting 26-year-old in head near Franklin Park last month

A man is accused of shooting and killing a Coeur d’Alene Tribe member last month outside a North Division Street business near Franklin Park.

Jose Matthews, 42, made his first appearance Tuesday in Spokane County District Court after Spokane police arrested him Monday in connection with the July 14 shooting. Matthews was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Darnell Pluff, 26 .

Judge Jennifer Fassbender maintained Matthews’ bond at $1 million. Matthews, dressed in yellow Spokane County Jail clothing, appeared virtually from the jail with his attorney sitting beside him.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Friday in District Court, police responded around 11:30 p.m. July 14 to the Black Sheep Coffee Co. stand, 5226 N. Division St., for a shooting call.

Officers found Pluff slumped against the back side of the coffee stand with a gunshot wound to his head, police said in the affidavit.

Surveillance videos from nearby businesses showed two men walking in the area prior to the shooting, court documents say.

One of the videos showed three people standing around Pluff, who was sitting on the ground, according to documents. One of the people then stepped toward Pluff before running away. Police believe this person fired the shot. Pluff can be seen slumping over to his left.

A second person can be seen on the video picking up something next to the victim and running behind the shooter. The third person walked away to the south.

Police did not recover a shell casing at the scene.

An autopsy revealed Pluff died from a gunshot wound to the right side of his head, according to documents.

Two witnesses, who are sisters, told police they were walking on Division Street near the coffee stand when they saw three males standing over Pluff, who was seated against the coffee stand.

The three males appeared to be joking and having a good time as they were standing around Pluff, one of the sisters said.

They told police one of the males pointed a pistol at Pluff and fired one shot into his head. Pluff then slumped over to the side. The males then ran north on Division and turned east on East Everett Avenue.

A third witness told police he was also walking on Division Street approaching the coffee stand when he recognized a person he knows as “D.” He was going to walk up and say “hi” to “D” when he saw he was talking to two males.

As he walked up to them, one of the males pulled out a firearm and shot “D” in the head, the witness told police. The two males then grabbed their things and ran north.

The witness said the males did not appear to be arguing, and the shooting appeared to be unprovoked.

Police used body camera footage of previous contacts with Matthews and video surveillance from the night of the shooting to identify Matthews as the shooter, court records show. He was identified by multiple sources as the person depicted in video collected leading up to and after the shooting.

Matthews also faces a second-degree assault charge from a January incident in Spokane in which he is accused of punching and choking his girlfriend.

Charles Lewis and Ashley Anderson attended Tuesday’s hearing and are friends of Matthews. They said Matthews is not a violent person.

“It’s totally out of character,” Lewis said. “It’s not him.”

Anderson described him as “gentle.”

“He’s like a brother to us,” Anderson said.