18-year-old arrested for Underhill Park drive-by shooting that injured one

Police arrested an 18-year-old accused of a drive-by shooting in Underhill Park in early April that injured a 20-year-old, according to court documents filed in Spokane County Superior Court.

Kjon M. MicKinley was booked into the Spokane County Jail on April 27 on two counts of drive-by shooting and two counts of first-degree assault.

According to court documents, the 20-year-old was playing basketball at about 3 p.m. on April 5 at Underhill Park when the group heard gunshots. According to court documents, 12 shots were fired into the park, where other people, including children, were playing that afternoon.

One of the shots struck the 20-year-old man. A 17-year-old, who is believed to be the target, transported him to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center with injuries that weren’t life-threatening, where he was later released.

McKinley is associated with a local gang known as the Swavii Crips that is said to be feuding with the 5th Street Crips, that frequents the Underhill Park area, court documents said.

Witnesses and surveillance footage showed a white Yukon GMC with custom rims in the area as a potential suspect vehicle, which Spokane police saw leaving the area after they were dispatched to the park, court documents said. Police traced the vehicle’s license plate back to McKinley’s mother, who lives with him at their residence in the Logan Neighborhood.

Detectives also traced a phone they believe McKinley was using to the area of Underhill Park around the time of the shooting on April 5. McKinley is said to have used the phone to contact other Swavii Crips gang members in Spokane County Jail. He also contacted his mother twice in the minutes after the Underhill Park shooting.

According to court documents, McKinley was also a suspect in the killing of Tavius J. Fry Cooley, who was shot at a party near 212 E. Wedgewood Way in December.

Police investigating Fry Cooley’s death discovered SnapChat videos that geolocated McKinley in the same area just before the shooting occurred, detectives noted in court documents. Other photos and video showed McKinley in possession of firearms. McKinley, a convicted felon, is not allowed to have weapons

As a juvenile, McKinley fired numerous rounds into Cannon Park with an assault rifle on April 12, 2020, according to court documents. He was released from prison in November.

Spokane police executed a search warrant on April 27 and arrested McKinley at his residence at 424 E. Fairview Ave. without incident.

Additional charges for McKinley are possible.