TACOMA, Wash. — Two 17-year-old boys have been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl in Tacoma.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Christopher Anthony P. Felizardo and Jeremiah Anthony Greg Averitt on Friday.
"The recklessness of the shooting out in an area that was well populated put multiple people at risk," said Lisa Wagner, Pierce County deputy prosecuting attorney.
Felizardo and Averitt are accused of shooting at a car in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood on July 6, striking Iyana Ussery, who later died.
The morning of the shooting, police said Ussery and several friends drove to the Speed E Mart in her mother’s Dodge Magnum to buy snacks.
On the way, they passed a white sedan, which one of the passengers recognized. When the group got to the parking lot, one of the boys in the Dodge got out and started walking to the store. Surveillance footage shows the boy flash gang signs at the people in the white car, according to probable cause documents.
He returned to the Dodge, and the group drove across the street to Ezell’s Chicken.
Surveillance footage shows two people got out of the white car before it drove away from the scene. One of Ussery’s female friends told police she saw two boys run into the parking lot and start shooting at the Dodge.
Employees in Ezell’s Chicken reported hearing five to nine gunshots, one of which shattered the front door of the restaurant.
The group in the Dodge fled the parking lot and drove home, where Ussery’s mother called police.
One of the victims told police she recognized one of the shooters. She believed the shooting happened because the shooter and one of the boys in the Dodge had been feuding because of rival gang membership.
There is no evidence that Ussery or her female friends are associated with gangs, according to police.
Ussery’s mother told police that her daughter was “the glue that held the family together,” helping take care of younger siblings and that she was a model student who was about to attend high school.
Felizardo and Averitt, who were arrested July 7, are both charged with second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Bail was set at $1 million for both suspects Friday. However, attorneys argued that additional steps needed to be taken to protect the community.
"I would point out again that the two weapons used have still not been recovered," Wagner said. "This is apparently gang motivated, so the witnesses and victims do have concerns about retaliation."
Their trial date was scheduled for Aug. 24.