TUCSON, Ariz. — An outspoken anti-immigration activist who was at the center of a series of violent crimes in Everett earlier this year has been arrested in Arizona in connection with the home-invasion killings of a man and his 9-year-old daughter.
Shawna Forde, 41, is charged with two-counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of aggravated assault, according to a press release from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona.
The killings were believed to be premeditated. Forde and the two others allegedly went into the home intending to steal money and drugs, the press release said.
Raul Flores, 29, and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia, were killed when a group of armed people, including a woman, forced their way into the home on May 30, officials said.
The child’s mother traded gunfire with the attackers. She survived, but remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Forde was arrested without incident in Sierra Vista, a few miles from the Mexican border.
The shootings occurred in Arivaca, about 60 miles south of Tucson and 10 miles north of the Mexican border.
It is in an area where Forde and her group, Minuteman American Defense, have been operating. Forde has said her group conducts desert surveillance and undercover investigations aimed at curbing illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
Forde has a long and troubled history in Snohomish County. Some of her past was recounted by The Herald in a profile that appeared Feb. 22.
Forde was at the heart of a flurry of violence that began Dec. 22 when her ex-husband was shot in his Everett home. A week later, she reported being beaten and raped by strangers at the same house.
On Jan. 15, Forde was found in a north Everett alley with apparent gunshot wounds.
That violence remains under investigation by Everett police.
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