Man acquitted of Spokane drive-by shooting awarded $85,000 in lost wages
A Spokane man who was acquitted of shooting two people in the head after a bar fight was awarded around $85,000 on Thursday for wages he lost while incarcerated.
A jury in December found Moses Adedeji, 24, was acting in self-defense when he shot two men near downtown Spokane on July 7, 2024. The charges included two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of drive-by shooting.
According to court documents, several fights broke out that night at the Globe Bar & Kitchen on Division Street and Main Avenue. Police broke the fights up and later heard gunshots nearby. They eventually discovered two people with gunshot wounds in an SUV, not far from the Podium, documents say.
The two victims told police they did not know who shot them or what prompted the shooting besides that some people they were with before the shooting were involved in a bar fight.
Another witness described the shooter to police as a Black man with dreadlocks, which fit Adedeji’s description, court documents say.
Video footage from a Spokane Transit Authority bus shelter showed Adedeji driving a tan-colored sedan the wrong way to catch up to the victims’ vehicle. At one point, the two cars were side by side at Riverside Avenue and Division Street, according to court documents.
The light turned green, and the driver pulled into the path of the SUV when firearm muzzle flashes and smoke can be seen coming from the car Adedeji is driving, the footage showed. Glass can be seen falling to the ground from Adedeji’s car.
Adedeji’s roommate told police he loaned his Chevy Cobalt to Adedeji to go out with friends the night of the shooting, according to court documents. When Adedeji returned the car, the window that shattered in the shooting was damaged, the roommate reported.
Adedeji told the roommate he had been “jumped” downtown before being involved in a shooting, the roommate told police. Adedeji then left the country on a planned trip to the United Kingdom. He was eventually arrested in North Carolina.
A search of Adedeji’s apartment found two 9 mm pistols and a torn orange shirt that appeared to match the one he was wearing the morning of the shooting, court documents say. Officers found a 9 mm casing at the shooting scene.
By the time Adedeji was released from jail, he had spent nearly 1½ years incarcerated. Adedeji submitted a request to Spokane County earlier this week asking for compensation for missed wages at his job at Amazon and Uber during that time, as well as the cost of his commissary expenses in jail and his cell phone, which was seized by police.
The total amounted to $113,000. State prosecutors wrote in court records they wanted documentation of lost wages and incurred expenses.
Ultimately, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese granted $85,000 to Adedeji to supplement the losses. It will go to the state auditor for approval.