Victims in shooting near Liberty Park were set up, shot, robbed in ‘drug deal gone wrong,’ court documents say

The shooting that left a 17-year-old dead and two others injured last week in the East Central Neighborhood was the result of a “drug deal gone wrong,” court documents say.

Police received multiple reports of gunshots around 8:20 p.m. Feb. 8 in the area of 1725 E. Seventh Ave., documents say. Patrol officers found one person, Tyler Rowell, dead and two others males shot in the upper right leg and taken to the hospital. A light blue minivan fled the area.

One of the victims was treated and released and the other was not listed in Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s system, according to hospital spokesperson Ariana Lake.

Rowell died from gunshot wounds of the head and torso, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office. Rowell died at the scene, documents said.

Police arrested Hagen F. Charbonneau, 18; Gavin M. McGregor, 21; Sapphire B. Jespersen, 20; and Leland Westerland, 16, who is being charged as an adult.

One of the victims, whose femur was shattered, told an officer at the hospital he drove Rowell and the other victim in his light blue Honda Odyssey minivan to Seventh Avenue to sell about $600 in cannabis oil. He said he did not know who was purchasing the drugs.

The trio got out of the minivan, and three people wearing dark-colored ski masks – whom the victim said he did not know – approached and opened fire, striking Rowell first, then him and the other male last, the victim said in documents. He told police one of the three males who approached them was armed with a black handgun. The trio then took the keys to his Honda and drove away in it.

The other victim told police one of the males demanded his keys after the shooting. He gave them his key ring, which had two fobs for two vehicles.

Evidence of prepackaged cannabis oil was scattered on the ground and six fired 9 mm shell casings were recovered from the scene, court records say.

“The scene was consistent with a drug deal gone wrong,” police said in documents.

The next morning, a person reported seeing the stolen Honda Odyssey parked at 3205 S. University Road in Spokane Valley. Police later saw Charbonneau enter the Honda, drive off and briefly flee from officers before he pulled over.

After initially lying, according to the police account, Charbonneau told a police detective he was at the robbery and that McGregor needed money to pay a bail bondsman. So, he said, Jespersen’s Snapchat account was used to set up the victims for a robbery under the pretense of buying drugs.

Jespersen told police she let McGregor use her Snapchat account to set up the robbery. She said she communicated with one of the males leading up to the robbery.

Charbonneau told police he and the other three defendants had driven McGregor’s silver Infiniti and parked to the north of Seventh Avenue near Liberty Park. Jespersen said she was the driver. Charbonneau, McGregor and Westerland walked up a trail to Seventh Avenue while Jespersen waited in the car, according to Charbonneau.

Charbonneau said he and Westerland hid near a parked van and a trailer on Seventh while McGregor waited for the three males to arrive, according to the documents. Charbonneau saw the males drive past them on Seventh toward a dead end in the Honda Odyssey before turning around and parking near the van where Charbonneau hid.

The three males got out of the Honda and one of them said something to Charbonneau, according to Charbonneau. He said Westerland then revealed himself and shot all three of the males with a purple handgun, according to the records.

Charbonneau said Westerland and McGregor then went through the victims’ pockets, according to the police account. McGregor took the keys to the Honda minivan and handed them to Charbonneau, telling him to drive away. McGregor and Westerland fled on foot back toward McGregor’s car.

Jespersen said she heard several gunshots and that Westerland had a black-and-purple handgun that he placed in a bag when he got back to the car. Westerland was later arrested with the handgun in his possession, police said.

Jespersen said the plan was to steal the drugs but she was unaware anyone was going to be hurt. McGregor also denied knowing Westerland was going to shoot anyone.

Charbonneau said the three males did not provoke the shooting and did not make threatening actions toward Westerland.

Charbonneau said he drove to the Underhill Park parking lot where McGregor went through the contents of the Honda Odyssey. Charbonneau eventually drove to his University Road apartment where he parked the stolen Honda. Charbonneau said he spoke with McGregor over the phone about making plans to dispose of the van near Reardan.

McGregor told police he participated in the robbery and took some of the cannabis oil.

McGregor, Charbonneau and Jespersen made their first court appearances Friday and are scheduled for arraignments Feb. 22. The trio remained in jail Tuesday on murder, assault and robbery charges. Each of their bonds was at least $1 million.

Westerland faces murder, assault and robbery charges. He made his first court appearance Tuesday and is in the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.