A 71-year-old man faces a second-degree murder charge after a parking lot dispute at a Kent apartment complex led to a fight and eventually a fatal shot.
Stephen A. Tullier is accused of killing Juan Manuel Bacio Vasquez, 28, after a dispute about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 19 in the parking lot at the Riverwood Apartments, 24620 Russell Road. Vasquez died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Tullier is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 7. He remained in custody Aug. 29 at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle with bail set at $750,000, according to jail records.
The dispute actually began between a woman and Tullier, according to charging papers. A vehicle had parked in the fire lane at the apartment complex, which partially blocks his assigned parking stall, Tullier told a Kent Police detective. He saw a female walking to the vehicle and confronted her about where she parked.
Tullier said the conversation turned confrontational and heated words were exchanged. The woman then got into her vehicle and drove away.
Tullier said he returned to his third-floor apartment and a short time later heard a man (Bacio Vasquez) shouting obscenities at him from the parking lot, according to court documents. Tullier, who said he was armed with a 9mm firearm, walked down to confront the man about the vehicle in the fire lane.
The altercation reportedly turned physical and Bacio Vasquez told Tullier he knew he had a gun and he needed to put the gun away. The two men pushed each other and eventually Tullier fell down several steps at the complex. Tullier then reportedly got up and fired a shot at Bacio Vasquez, hitting him in the abdomen.
Police used a statement from a witness and cellphone video caputed by the 10-year-old son of Bacio Vasquez to help determine what happened.
A witness told police Bacio Vasquez did not make any aggressive movement toward Tullier prior to being shot. Tullier told police he fired in self-defense because Bacio Vasquez was coming at him, but the cellphone video did not back up his story, according to charging papers.
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