3 charged with aggravated murder in Spruce Park shooting

LYNNWOOD — Eleven months after two teens were killed in a drive-by shooting at a Lynnwood park, three suspects, including a teen boy, were charged Monday with two counts of aggravated murder.

Witness accounts, security footage and forensic evidence identified Jose “Smiley” Beteran, 28, Christian “Goofy” Chavez, 24, and Alexis “Little Smiley” Pacheco Monrroy, then 15, as the suspects in the killings of Jesus Sanchez Camunas Jr. and Tidus Linville-Goodwin at Spruce Park. Sanchez Camunas Jr. was 16 and Linville-Goodwin was 15.

Investigators believe the incident was part of Pacheco Monrroy’s initiation into Beteran and Chavez’s street gang. Beteran is the teen’s half-brother, according to court papers.

Under state law, there’s only one possible sentence for aggravated murder: life in prison.

Chavez was the first of the three suspects to appear in court. Bail was set at $2 million.

Defense attorney Stephen Ritchie said Chavez “contacted him immediately after charges were filed” and turned himself in. Chavez remained in the Snohomish County Jail on Tuesday.

“He did the right thing here, despite him denying involvement in the events at this point,” Ritchie said in court Tuesday.

A judge has issued a warrant for Beteran’s arrest.

Pacheco Monrroy is set to appear before Superior Court Judge Patrick Moriarty on Wednesday in juvenile court.

A Lynnwood police search warrant says on July 13, 2022, a drive-by shooting left Pacheco Monrroy’s sister with a gunshot to the leg and another man with a gunshot to the stomach at a Fred Meyer off 164th Street SW. Detectives wrote it appeared to be a rival gang-related confrontation, and that Pacheco Monrroy returned fire as the car sped away.

Around 9:15 p.m. July 14, the trio drove to the park at 16834 36th Ave. W in a black-and-white Chevrolet Tahoe, a car registered under Beteran’s name, when they heard about “tagging” in the park, according to the charges filed in Superior Court.

Upon their arrival, one of the defendants asked Sanchez Camunas Jr. and Linville-Goodwin, who were in the park with their girlfriends, “What’s your set?” Sanchez Camunas Jr. responded that he was in a rival gang, witnesses told investigators.

Chavez, who was in the back seat, then fired about 15 to 20 shots at the two boys, prosecutors allege. The Tahoe fled the scene.

Responders reportedly found the two boys on the ground with gunshot wounds. The injured teens were taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett where they later died.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the two teens both died from gunshot wounds to the head.

Detectives later found DNA for all three defendants in the Tahoe, according to the charges. Fingerprints determined Beteren in the driver’s seat, Pacheco Monrroy in the passenger seat and Chavez in the backeat, charges say.

Beteran had multiple felony convictions as a minor, court records show. In 2011, Beteran was convicted of first-degree assault for shooting a 17-year-old in the chest outside of Horizon Elementary School on W Casino Road. Beteran, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to 10 years in adult prison. He was on probation at the time of the killings.

In April of this year, Chavez was sentenced to 10 months in jail for unlawful firearm possession, for drawing a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol from his pants as he fled police.

Last year, prosecutors charged Pacheco Monrroy with first-degree assault after he was accused of shooting at multiple people at the Lynnwood Transit Center. That case was pending this week, with Pacheco Monrroy on house arrest pending trial.

Charging papers say Pacheco Monrroy was the suspected target of the shooting near the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in February.

Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.