Woman killed in East Central shooting identified

A woman who was shot and killed Tuesday in East Central Spokane was identified in court documents as Athena O. Wells, 50.

Spokane police officers were dispatched shortly before 1:30 a.m. to an apartment at 23 S. Haven St., according to search warrant documents filed Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court. A man reported his friend, Wells, was shot.

Officers found Wells with a gunshot wound to her chest inside the apartment. Officers and medics treated her, but she died.

Police found a pistol on the floor at the base of a sectional couch, according to court documents.

Besides Wells, two men and a woman were at the apartment when police arrived.

The woman told police she was sleeping on the couch in the upstairs unit when she was awoken by several people screaming. She saw her friend, a 52-year-old man, next to her panicking and frantic. She said the man said something like, “I just bent over and my gun went off.”

She then saw her friend, Wells, lying on the floor and not moving. She didn’t know what was going on and said people were panicking. She was unsure where the man who told her the gun went off went.

Police later learned the 52-year-old man was in the apartment when the gun went off and quickly left before police arrived, according to court records. Police talked on the phone with the man, who said he was at a friend’s house. He told police he didn’t know what was going on but agreed to show up to the Haven Street residence and talk with police.

When he arrived, he told police he left the residence at about 11 p.m. Monday, or two and a half hours before the shooting. He continued to deny being there for the shooting even though a couple of witnesses said he was.

One of the men at the residence told police he and his girlfriend were lying together on one side of the couch watching TV while their friend, Wells, was lying on the other side of the couch. He said he was starting to fall asleep when he heard a gunshot and saw Wells jump up and yell that she was hurt before collapsing to the floor. He got up and called 911.

He told police he was unsure where the gun came from or why it was in the house. He said he believed the gun was on the back of the couch and somehow fell off the couch and landed on the floor, causing it to fire.

The other man in the house at the time of the shooting told police he lives at the home. He was in his bedroom by himself when he heard a loud “pop” come from the living room area. He then heard Wells say something like, “Ow, that really hurt, it’s burning.”

He went to the living room and saw everyone in chaos, a gun on the floor and Wells bleeding. He said he believed the shooting was an accident because everyone gets along well.

A detective wrote in documents he was unsure whether the shooting was intentional or accidental.

Officer Tricia Leming, spokeswoman for the department, said police continue to investigate.