PIRECE COUNTY, Wash. — Two men shot to death inside a car in University Place went with their alleged killer to fire off random rounds while driving around, court documents state.
On Tuesday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Javier Valenzuela Feliz, 30, with two counts of second-degree murder for the May 14 deaths of Adrian Valencia, 19, and Wilberth Acala, 22.
A 21-year-old man also arrested in connection with the homicides has not been charged. He was released to the the U.S. marshals earlier this month on an unrelated matter.
Feliz is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
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The bodies of Valencia and Acala were found inside a Dodge Charger that was parked blocking the 6100 block of 63rd Street West.
A neighbor called 911 early on the morning of May 14 to report two men passed out inside a car.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and discovered Valencia and Acala had both been shot in the head. Shell casings and beer cans were found in the backseat.
Footage from security cameras at nearby houses showed two men climbing out of a car window and running down the street.
One of the victims’ moms was able to identify the two suspects, records show.
After detectives arrested the first suspect, he told them the four men went out “to shoot off some rounds as they drove,” according to charging papers.
As Feliz was shooting rounds out the window, he suddenly shot Valencia in the head and demanded Acala find an area where they could discard the body, the other suspect told investigators.
“As they traveled to the location that the vehicle came to rest, the defendant then shot the driver in the head area,” records show.
The unnamed suspect was apparently recording the incident on his cell phone and allowed detectives to listen. Text messages between him and Feliz discussing drugs and what was publicly known about the shootings were also found on his phone.
The unnamed suspect told detectives he heard from media reports that the killings were drug-related and decided not to come forward because he had a drug warrant and was afraid he’d be blamed for the murders.