32-year-old man gets 32 years in prison for Spokane New Year’s Eve killing

A 32-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to more than 32 years in prison for shooting and killing Carlos Thomas on New Year’s Eve 2022 as Thomas sat in his parked Mercedes in East Central Spokane.

A jury last month found Elijiah M. Harvey guilty of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Thomas, 42, was parked outside the Parkview Apartments, 1413 E. Seventh Ave. early on Dec. 31, 2022, when a car with Harvey and at least one other person pulled up and parked next to Thomas, according to a Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office news release. The men exchanged words, and Harvey got out of the car, circled Thomas’ car and shot into it, hitting Thomas twice in the chest.

Harvey and Thomas were acquaintances, according to a prosecutor’s office news release.

Harvey’s mother told police her son broke into her apartment around 2 a.m. some day in December 2022 wearing only his underwear and shoes, court records show. She said Harvey told her he had to get rid of everything because it had blood on it and that he did not know whether a man in the car was dead.

One witness told investigators he knows Harvey, Takao R. Bay and their “associates” to “gang bang,” according to court records.

Harvey, who reportedly went by the nickname “Dopey,” was arrested in December 2023 for Thomas’ murder along with Bay, 28, who was charged as an accomplice, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Harvey’s Facebook account indicated he is a gang member and that he communicated with Bay, according to court documents. Police found a video Harvey sent the day before the shooting of Harvey with what appeared to be the Ruger 9 mm handgun used in the shooting.

Police wrote the Ruger Harvey had in the video also matched the 9 mm casing found outside Thomas’ Mercedes.

During the weeklong trial, no motive was ever established for the murder, prosecutors said.

The 388-month sentence handed down by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Marla Polin was the midpoint of Harvey’s standard sentence range, according to court documents.

Bay pleaded guilty to first-degree rendering criminal assistance in August and last week was sentenced to 33 months in jail. Bay was the driver of the car, prosecutors said.

Friends and family of Harvey and Thomas spoke to the court during Harvey’s sentencing, according to the release. Thomas was described as a loving father, son, brother and cousin.