EVERETT — An Edmonds man had been arguing with one of his roommates shortly before the victim was fatally shot Jan. 6, according to newly filed court papers.
Multiple witnesses have told police that Derrick Elijah “Wiz” Crawford, 22, had some sort of confrontation with one of his roommates. The argument was in a third-floor bedroom at the Edmonds home they shared with several others in the 17700 block of 76th Avenue W.
Crawford reportedly came downstairs and “mumbled to himself, ‘If I go up there again, I’m going to kill somebody,’” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Robert Grant said in court papers.
About 10 minutes later, Crawford went back up to the room. Witnesses said there was a gunshot and the defendant fled the home, Grant wrote in an affidavit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Crawford is now charged with second-degree murder. He’s being sought on a arrest warrant setting his bail at $500,000.
Edmonds police were summoned to the shooting scene at about 11:30 p.m. that night. They found Joshua Werner, 27, with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
“Based on the on-scene investigation, it was clear to law enforcement that the shooting was not a suicide as no firearms were found in the house. However, law enforcement did not initially have a suspect to the shooting as all persons in the house claimed that they had no knowledge of who shot Werner or how he was shot,” Grant wrote.
Anonymous tips pointed toward Crawford. Detectives began to get people who were in the home to cooperate. Through interviews, they began piecing together more information about what appears to have occurred.
Based on tips, police were led to a ravine where they were told the defendant had tossed two handguns. A search turned up two small-caliber firearms that are being held pending tests, court papers said.
Detectives also spoke with people who say that within hours of the shooting, Crawford cut off his long dreadlocks and got a friend to give him a ride to Pierce County. He reportedly was planning to head to California.
Crawford had three felony convictions for drugs and auto theft, all in 2017, plus more than a dozen misdemeanors.
One witness told police that Werner may have been shot by accident, that the gun went off while Crawford was trying to shake him awake. However, the autopsy turned up physical evidence that “is consistent with a person standing some distance away, aiming the firearm at Werner’s face, and firing the lethal bullet,” Grant wrote.
The second-degree murder charge alleges Crawford shot with the intent to cause the other man’s death.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews.
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