Summary

Delbert “Shorty” Belton (1924-2013)

World War II veteran Delbert “Shorty” Belton was beaten and left for dead Aug. 21 in his car at the Eagles Lodge parking lot in North Spokane. Belton, 88, died the following day at Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Two 16-year-old boys, Demetruis Glenn and Kenan Adams-Kinard, were arrested separately in connection with the fatal beating, which Spokane police described as a robbery-turned-homicide. Glenn turned himself in to police shortly after surveillance photos of the suspects were distributed by investigators. Adams-Kinard was found by police Aug. 26 hiding in an apartment, and claimed in a letter to his mother that Belton was a drug dealer and had shorted them in a crack cocaine deal — an assertion that friends and family described as outrageous and police dismissed as unfounded. Prosecutors charged both teen-agers as adults with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
A survivor of the bloody Battle of Okinawa, Belton returned to Spokane and spent decades working at Kaiser Aluminum before retiring.

Key People

  • Kenan Adams-Kinard

    Kenan Adams-Kinard was arrested Aug. 26 after police found him hiding in a Spokane apartment with friends. In a letter to his mom that police believe was written by Adams-Kinard, the victim of the beating death was described as a drug dealer who had shorted them in a crack cocaine deal — claims that Belton’s family and friends call outrageous and police say are unfounded.

  • Delbert Belton

    Delbert Belton was found unconscious and bleeding profusely Aug. 21 in his car outside the Eagles Lodge in North Spokane. He died the following day at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

  • Demetruis Glenn

    Demetruis Glenn turned himself in to police after investigators began circulating surveillance photos of two suspects in the Delbert Belton beating death.

Key Places

  • Eagles Lodge

    Delbert Belton was in his car in the west parking lot of the Spokane Eagle’s Ice Arena, 6321 N. Addison, waiting for a friend before heading into the nearby Eagle’s Lodge. A friend, Natalie Flom, found Belton unconscious and bleeding profusely in his car following a severe beating.

Complete Coverage

News >  Spokane

Second teenager sentenced to 16 years for role in veteran’s death

The second teenager accused of killing World War II veteran Delbert “Shorty” Belton in the summer of 2013 received a 16-year prison sentence that draws to a close a case that sparked community outrage and garnered national attention. Demetruis Glenn, 17, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder earlier this month.
News >  Spokane

Adams-Kinard gets 20 years in death of WWII veteran

The families of a victim and his killer displayed grief, forgiveness and redemption Thursday as a Spokane judge sent 17-year-old Kenan Adams-Kinard to prison for 20 years in the beating death of World War II veteran Delbert “Shorty” Belton. The 2013 murder garnered national media attention as much for Belton’s status as a war veteran as for the racial overtones: The two teens suspected of attacking and robbing him as he sat in his parked car outside the Eagles Lodge in north Spokane are black; Belton, who later died from the beating, is white. Demetruis Glenn, the other teen accused in Belton’s death, is scheduled to stand trial in March.
News >  Spokane

Plea expected today in WWII veteran’s beating death

The news that murder suspect Kenan Adams-Kinard planned to plead guilty came as a relief to Bobbie Belton, the daughter-in-law of slain World War II veteran Delbert Belton. Adams-Kinard is expected to enter his plea this afternoon in exchange for having other charges against him dropped, court officials said Monday. He and Demetruis Glenn, both 17, are accused of beating Belton in his car on Aug. 21, 2013, leaving the veteran to die of his injuries the next day.
News >  Spokane

Man pleads guilty to robbery in drug deal

The brother of a teen accused of murder pleaded guilty this week to a charge stemming from a drug deal robbery that ended in a shooting in January. Jahvory Kinard, 20, was sentenced to 31 months in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Michael Price. Kinard shot Brittnei Fawver, who had agreed to buy $900 worth of illegal prescription pills from him Jan. 3, according to court records. Kinard attempted to rob Fawver, who was shot when she tried to prevent him from escaping, according to investigators.
News >  Spokane

Case evidence in death of WWII veteran offers no new insight on motive

Digital files released this month in the case of two teens accused of beating to death an 88-year-old World War II veteran in Spokane last summer offer a compelling look into the lives of the suspects and an angry community. What they don’t show is new insight into why the violent death occurred.
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