Two 15-year-old boys suspected in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man during an apparent botched drug robbery in a Hazel Dell parking lot appeared Thursday morning in Clark County Juvenile Court to face murder allegations. Tristan A. Cienfuegos and Oriley J. Huynh each face an allegation of first-degree murder in the death of Gage Allan Kiser of Vancouver.
Tristan A. Cienfuegos and Oriley J. Huynh each face an allegation of first-degree murder in the death of Gage Allan Kiser of Vancouver.
Judge Derek Vanderwood did not set bail for either boy. The judge did not allow photos of the teens to be taken in court.
A third suspect, 17-year-old Terrance J. Busby, appeared Wednesday in Superior Court. He also stands accused of first-degree murder and is the suspected getaway driver, according to the prosecution.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu said during Busby’s first appearance that the three defendants planned to rob Kiser of marijuana.
Deputies and medics were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. Monday to Pacific 63 Center, 6204 N.E. Highway 99, after multiple reports of a shooting. The shopping center is home to a number of businesses.
Witnesses pulled Kiser from his still-running Jeep and attempted CPR before police and medics arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Huynh’s case, Kiser was struck by gunfire four times. An autopsy found Kiser had entry gunshot wounds in his left shoulder and two in his back, and an exit wound on the right side of his chest.
Immediately following the shooting, deputies interviewed three passengers who were inside Kiser’s Jeep. The victim’s brother said Kiser was delivering marijuana to someone he had contacted on social media. The brother said Kiser used Snapchat to talk with buyers.
The buyer involved in the shooting looked at the marijuana and tried to run off with it, according to the affidavit. Kiser tried to stop the theft but was shot.
Late Monday, law enforcement officers tracked down Busby and identified him as the suspected driver. Family members told detectives Busby has a history of drug robberies, but he’s never been caught, said Vu.
Interviews with all three defendants are summarized in newly filed court documents. The 15-year-olds admitted involvement in the shooting, while Busby denied he was there, according to the affidavits.
Busby told detectives he attended school, visited a female friend near Battle Ground, and then dropped off his father’s black Mercedes-Benz — the suspected getaway vehicle — at home before catching a ride over to his cousin’s apartment, where he was arrested later on the day of the shooting.
“(Busby) denied being involved with the murder in Hazel Dell,” a probable cause affidavit says. “He requested an attorney prior to additional questioning.”
Deputies seized and searched Busby’s cellphone. They also examined Kiser’s cellphone. Snapchat records showed Cienfuegos sent Kiser a photo of himself about a day before the shooting, and Busby made a call to Cienfuegos on the app about 20 minutes after 911 started getting reports about the homicide, court documents show.
Detectives inferred from the communications that Cienfuegos was the common link among all the involved teens. Additionally, the three witnesses who’d been inside the Jeep said they were 80 to 100 percent positive that Cienfuegos was the buyer who got inside the vehicle and initially inspected the marijuana.
It would be Wednesday until deputies arrested Cienfuegos and Huynh. Detectives also learned that same day of rumors swirling among kids that Huynh was the shooter, according to the affidavits.
The rumors appear to have quickly spread among students despite the boys attending multiple schools.
Kiser was enrolled at Skyview High School but was previously a student at Fort Vancouver High School. Busby is enrolled at Hudson’s Bay High School but previously attended Skyview, according to Vancouver Public Schools spokeswoman Pat Nuzzo. Cienfuegos was enrolled at Fir Grove/Vista School, the district’s high school program for students with severe emotional or behavioral disabilities. Huynh was enrolled at Fort Vancouver High School, said Nuzzo.
‘Set up the robbery’
According to the detectives’ accounts of Cienfuegos’ interview, the boy “admitted he set up the robbery. He said he messaged Gage on Snapchat to buy marijuana. He did not have the money to pay for the marijuana and planned to rob Gage.”
Cienfuegos told the sheriff’s office detectives that Busby was the driver and Huynh was the muscle. He and Huynh approached the Jeep, he said, where he inspected a “small bag of marijuana” before taking off with it, according to the affidavit.
Cienfuegos said he heard multiple gunshots as he ran away from Kiser’s vehicle, according to the probable cause affidavit. He said he did not know the location of a revolver detectives believe was used to shoot Kiser.
Huynh admitted in his interview that he was the shooter, according to the affidavit. He was allegedly aware of the plan to rob Kiser and brought along the revolver for protection.
As Cienfuegos was running away with the marijuana, Huynh “said the driver kicked his door open and reached toward the center console. (Huynh) stated he drew his revolver and fired once” at the driver’s back. “He continued to shoot at the driver … he fired all five rounds in the revolver,” the affidavit says.
Huynh said he fired the gun for his own protection, although he did not see Kiser handling a firearm, according to the affidavit.
Huynh also told police he destroyed the revolver and disposed of it at multiple locations, but he later changed that account.
Outside the courtroom, Deputy Prosecutor Kristine Foerster declined to comment on whether prosecutors will seek to move the two 15-year-old defendants’ cases to adult court.
Reporter Katie Gillespie contributed to this story.
