Trooper Will Finn with the Washington State Patrol speaks about the June 9 fatal shooting on Highway 503 during a press conference at WSP headquarters on Monday afternoon. (Nathan Howard/The Columbian)
The Washington State Patrol, with help from the U.S. Marshals Service, brought into custody Monday a man sought in connection to a fatal shooting on June 9 in Brush Prairie that investigators now say was a drug deal gone bad.
State Patrol spokesman Trooper Will Finn said Marshals located Justin Schell, 44, on Monday, and said he is one of the last people to have contact with motorist Ariel Romano, 29, of Vancouver before his death the morning of June 9.
Around 1:45 a.m. that day, troopers responded to a fatal crash on state Highway 503 near Northeast 119th Street. They found Romano dead after his car hit a large tree near Prairie High School.
Investigators initially thought Romano died in a hit-and-run crash while street racing, but discovered that he had been shot.
One man, Raul Flores, 44, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on June 29 on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting, which Finn described as a drug deal gone bad.
Finn said during a press conference Monday at Washington State Patrol headquarters that Romano had met with Schell, Flores and Jonathan “Jon Jon” Oson at a WinCo Foods on Northeast 119th Street, near the spot where Romano’s car crashed into a tree, on the night of the shooting.
There was an altercation at the store, which led to Romano being chased by a vehicle, alluded to in court documents as a Lincoln LS that Flores had been living in.
Investigators believe Flores and Oson were in the car that chased the victim. They’re still working to determine who was driving and who fired the shotgun round out of the moving car that killed Romano.
Only the single shot was fired, Finn said.
The State Patrol said Schell was in the area during that time.
On Thursday, troopers spotted Flores at a Portland gas station he was known to frequent; he was driving a Lincoln LS. Portland police pulled over the sedan at the troopers’ request and detained Flores, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Two days later, detectives served a search warrant with the help of other Clark County law enforcement at an Orchards-area home, where potential evidence associated with Romano’s death was located, Finn said.
“Several weapons, along with other evidence, were collected from the home,” Finn said.
Troopers didn’t have to go far to locate Oson. He is currently in custody at the Clark County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault. The charge stems from allegations that Oson punched a stranger in the face in downtown Vancouver in April.
Investigators planned to question Oson about Romano’s death Monday evening, Finn said.
Finn described Schell as a person of interest in the case.
“We’re just trying to talk to him at this point,” Finn said before he was located.
Anyone with helpful information about the case is encouraged to contact Detective Jennifer Ortiz at 360-449-7948 or jennifer.ortiz@wsp.wa.gov.
