LYNNWOOD — A Lynnwood man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing someone in a confrontation over a borrowed car.
Alexander Song, 22, and five friends went to the Newberry Square apartments off Ash Way on Dec. 30, 2017, to recover a Honda that was borrowed but never returned. Song knocked on a back window of the car.
Pedro Montero, then 19, fired a single shot through the glass, according to charging papers. The gunshot struck Song in the chest. He died at the scene.
The bullet had pierced his heart and lung.
Detectives found the Honda Pilot on New Year’s Eve, as well as a girl, 17, who said she’d borrowed the car from another man who borrowed it in the first place — not Montero. She reported she’d been in the Honda with Montero at the time of the shooting. Afterward, she told police, Montero asked her to take the blame. The two of them drove to a gas station in Everett, abandoned the vehicle and parted ways.
On New Year’s Day 2018, detectives tracked down Montero. He denied being in the car, or being in Snohomish County on the day of the shooting. At first, he claimed he didn’t know the girl.
Later, he admitted he’d been with the girl in a car that day — but he didn’t know the make or model.
“It’s not my body,” he said several times, according to police reports.
He told detectives they would “just go by cameras and evidence,” instead of “taking his word (for it).”
Montero reportedly told police he belonged to a local gang.
Sheriff’s deputies booked him into jail for investigation of second-degree murder. Search warrants revealed that within an hour of the shooting, he used his phone to look for news about the homicide.
Montero, 20, entered a plea agreement Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court. He admitted to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
A sentencing date is set for April 19.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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