Bloody car found in Yakima tied to Everett shooting suspect
Published 1:30 am Monday, May 8, 2017
EVERETT — A string of car prowls in Yakima and a nosy apartment owner may have led Everett police to a shooting suspect’s vehicle.
Everett detectives believe they have found Jose Espinoza Aguilar’s Chevy Cobalt. They also believe they have recovered evidence proving that Aguilar transported the woman he shot in the Chevy. The woman’s blood was found in the car, according to court documents.
Aguilar, 24, is accused of shooting the woman in the back as she ran from him. The bullet pierced her spine, paralyzing her.
Prosecutors last week charged Aguilar, who goes by “Danger,” with first-degree assault with a firearm. He’s now wanted on a $500,000 warrant. Aguilar has been in the wind since the Jan. 11 shooting at Langus Riverfront Park in Everett.
Rumor has it that Aguilar shot the woman in the park over some stolen heroin, according to charging papers. Police also were told the suspect put a bounty on the woman’s head, making it known that whoever delivered her to him would receive $500 and some dope.
The victim said she’d been at the Quil Ceda Casino the day of the shooting. She called a friend to give her a ride back to Lynnwood. Once she was in his pickup truck he mentioned needing to stop in Everett. She became suspicious and asked if he was setting her up.
They pulled into the park about the same time Aguilar did, the woman told police. She locked herself in the pickup truck but Aguilar reportedly threatened to shoot her through the window. He allegedly punched her multiple times after she unlocked the door. The woman sprinted away from the pickup truck.
She told police she was running but felt her legs give out. She tumbled to the ground and was unable to move her legs, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Jarett Goodkin wrote in court papers.
She begged Aguilar to take her to the hospital. She was put in the back seat and Aguilar allegedly offered her $10,000 if she didn’t report the shooting. The woman told the suspect she thought she was dying. He allegedly said, “Good. Just don’t die in my car. Do it in the hospital,” according to court records.
The woman was dropped off at the hospital. Everett police were called to investigate.
Detectives later put out a bulletin looking for information about Aguilar and the Chevy Cobalt. They also released information about the shooting to media.
Everett detectives received a call March 9 from a couple who own an apartment building in Yakima. They told investigators there had been a series of car break-ins at the complex. One of the vehicles was a Chevy Cobalt. They found court documents with Aguilar’s name in the glove box. A Google search turned up stories about Aguilar and the shooting. They called a police tip line.
They told investigators that Aguilar and his girlfriend had rented an apartment in late January. The couple stopped paying rent and hadn’t been seen in weeks.
The Cobalt was impounded and a judge agreed to let police search the vehicle. That’s when the blood was discovered in the back seat. Earlier this month Washington State Patrol crime lab scientists confirmed that the blood belonged to the shooting victim.
The man accused of driving the woman to the park, Jorge Martinez, was charged in February with first-degree assault with a firearm. He remains in the county jail.
Aguilar is a convicted felon who beat a murder rap after fatally shooting a man in 2015. Aguilar claimed the shooting was self-defense and prosecutors declined to file murder charges against him. He was convicted in March 2016 of illegal gun possession and sentenced to 16 months in prison. He was out by November.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
