Second Everett teen pleads guilty in drive-by shootings

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, March 24, 2004

EVERETT — A second person charged in a series of random drive-by shootings pleaded guilty Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Colby Rider, 17, of Everett admitted guilt to one count of drive-by shooting and one count of second-degree burglary.

He could be sentenced to two about years in prison under state law, deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said. He was charged as an adult because of the seriousness of the crime.

Byron August Ross, 18, also of Everett, pleaded guilty earlier this month to seven counts of drive-by shooting. He faces a prison term of more than seven years.

Stern said neither defendant will be sentenced until after police complete an investigation and a decision is made whether to prosecute a third person — a 39-year-old woman who may have accompanied the teenagers on the shooting spree, court documents said.

Stern said police believe more than two people were involved, and he wants everyone who had a hand in the shootings to be held responsible. The two young men are the only ones who have been charged so far.

The shootings occurred Nov. 3 and Dec. 8 in the 15000 block of High Bridge Road near Monroe and the 16000 block of Connelly Road near Snohomish. On the same date, shots were fired at Everett homes in the 1900 block of Douglas Avenue and the 1900 block of 51st Avenue SE.

On Dec. 8, three homes in the 7400 block of E. Lowell-Larimer Road were hit.

In one case, a bullet penetrated a home and narrowly missed a woman in her kitchen. In a second case, a bullet passed 18 inches over the head of a sleeping child, according to court documents.