EVERETT — Nearly a month after the fatal shooting of Daniel Chavez at a 7-Eleven in south Everett, police have identified a suspect.
Jose “Jackson” Navarro Padilla, 54, was already in the Snohomish County Jail for unrelated warrants this week when he was identified as a suspect in the first-degree murder case.
On the night of Sept. 16, Everett police were called to the 7-Eleven at Airport Road and Evergreen Way for reports of shots fired in the parking lot. Authorities arrived to find Chavez in critical condition, with apparent gunshot wounds to the left side of his forehead, his abdomen and his left arm.
Chavez, 36, of Spokane, died in a hospital the following day. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office released his identity this week. His cause of death was determined to be gunshot wounds. The manner was homicide.
Witnesses who stayed at the scene reportedly told police they did not see the shooting, but they heard it.
Security footage showed Chavez bought something inside the 7-Eleven. Another man, later identified as Navarro Padilla, reportedly walked up next to him and banged a pack of cigarettes on the counter.
Chavez walked outside. One minute later, Navarro Padilla followed, according to police.
Seconds later, at 10:15 p.m., Chavez was shot. A group outside was out of view from the camera, police wrote, so it was unclear what they heard or saw.
Right after the shooting, one person from the group ran west from the scene, police wrote, and then ran north on Airport Road. The other people from the group walked to Airport Road and then headed south.
The suspect who ran wore a “distinctive” black-and-white puffy jacket, police wrote, and appeared to be Hispanic, 40- to 50-years-old, with a shaved head.
Later surveillance footage reportedly showed Navarro Padilla ran north to La Palmera Family Mexican Restaurant at 11731 Airport Road. The shooting suspect walked through the parking lot to some bushes, disappeared and reemerged without his jacket. Next, Navarro Padilla reportedly walked across the street, into Adult Airport Video. Security footage showed he stayed in the store for two minutes before going outside and getting picked up in a dark SUV.
“His actions vs the actions of the others who solely walked away pointed to him as a possible suspect,” police wrote.
Police identified Navarro Padilla with the help of a witness who reported he walked to the 7-Eleven on the night of the shooting with a man he knew as Jackson. The witness told police Navarro Padilla had gotten into an argument with another Hispanic man.
The witness said Navarro Padilla turned to him and said: “This guy is about to lose his life. You better run.”
Navarro Padilla reportedly pulled a gray revolver from his waistband and pointed the muzzle upwards. The witness said he heard two gunshots as he walked away, then turned around and saw the victim on the ground and Navarro Padilla running away.
On Monday, police were told Navarro Padilla had been arrested for unrelated warrants out of Skagit County — driving under the influence and taking a motor vehicle without permission — and booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
A detective reportedly interviewed Navarro Padilla at the jail. The suspect told police he was at the 7-Eleven on the night of the shooting, police wrote, but reported that “he left before any shooting and was picked up by a friend at the ‘Porn Barn’ (Airport Adult Video).”
“He said that he had not been involved in any altercation, was not threatened by anyone, and never saw anyone with a weapon that night,” reads a police report.
Detectives wrote that later in the interview they “pressed” Navarro Padilla, and he reportedly admitted to shooting the victim. Navarro Padilla reported he did not know Chavez before that night.
“He said that inside the store, (Chavez) had been acting aggressively towards the employees, which was not shown on the surveillance footage,” police wrote.
The Everett suspect reportedly had been arrested in 2019 in a robbery near Home Depot where he was armed with a machete. He remained in custody this week with bail set at $1,006,000.
Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; ellen.dennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.
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