EVERETT — Three days after a Tacoma man was arrested, prosecutors swiftly charged him with first-degree murder for the shooting of an innocent bystander at Daleway Park.
Raven Lonewarrior Brealan, 24, was arraigned Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court. A judge found probable cause that Lonewarrior Brealan was the shooter who killed Carl Bridgmon, 70, in April in Lynnwood. Bail was set at $2 million.
Bridgmon, of Lynnwood, frequented the small forested park near Highway 99 several times a week, according to a statement from his family. The retired man liked to enjoy a cup of coffee there.
On the afternoon of April 5, Bridgmon happened to be sitting in his car at the park. He witnessed an argument over a cannabis deal between four people in the parking lot. Shots were fired around 2:15 p.m.
Police responded to the park at 19015 64th Ave. W. Officers arrived to find Bridgmon deceased in the driver’s seat of a black Chevy Impala in the parking lot. There were several bullet holes in the driver’s side door of the Impala.
Earlier this year, the suspected driver in the shooting, Leif Smith, 21, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Lonewarrior Brealan reportedly told detectives he shipped a pound of cannabis to Smith via the U.S. Postal Service from California to Washington, according to charging papers filed in court last week. Smith paid for the weed then asked to buy 2 more pounds, according to charging papers. Instead of mailing the additional cannabis, Lonewarrior Brealan drove to Washington and delivered it.
When Lonewarrior Brealan arrived to the Evergreen State, Smith reportedly had a buyer lined up who wanted to purchase one pound. On April 5, Lonewarrior Brealan and Smith met the buyer at Daleway Park in Lynnwood, the charges say.
That day, two young men, both 18, told police they’d gone to the park to meet a man one of them knew as “Bubba,” later identified as Smith, according to police. When the pair arrived, Smith reportedly sent a message telling them to meet in the bathroom, then sent another message saying to meet at his car.
One of the teens reportedly asked to see the bag of weed to check its quality. An argument escalated, police wrote, and the driver and passenger began punching the two teens inside the car. The teens ran from the park. One of them reportedly heard loud pops.
Six months later, Lonewarrior Brealan reportedly told police he believed one of the people he and Smith met at Daleway Park was armed, despite not seeing anything in his hands. He believed one of them had gotten out of the sedan he opened fire at, where Bridgmon was seated.
Lonewarrior Brealan had no prior adult felony record in Washington. He remained in custody Sunday at the Snohomish County Jail.
Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.
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