The Clark County chief medical examiner described to a jury the pathway of what was likely a single gunshot that killed Clark County sheriff’s Sgt. Jeremy Brown in July 2021.
Dr. Martha Burt took the stand Tuesday in the trial for Abran Raya Leon, 30, the alleged getaway driver in the shooting.
Although he didn’t pull the trigger, he is facing felony murder in Brown’s death as part of an alleged conspiracy to traffick stolen firearms. He is charged with second-degree murder, possession of a stolen firearm and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in Clark County Superior Court.
His brother, Guillermo Raya Leon, 28, is the alleged shooter. Prosecutors say Abran Raya Leon’s wife, Misty Raya, initiated the alleged trafficking scheme.
Earlier in the day, Johan Schoeman, a forensic scientist with the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, said the bullet jacket fragments found in Brown’s left arm matched the lead core of the bullet found in Brown’s right chest wall. He said the bullet jacket and core fragments recovered from Brown’s body likely separated after the bullet passed through an object, such as a car window, prior to striking him.
A crime scene investigator previously testified Brown was likely shot through the rear driver’s side window of his unmarked red Jeep. Brown had been surveilling Abran Raya Leon, his wife and his brother in connection with the stolen firearms investigation.
Schoeman also testified that bullet was fired from a Taurus .357 Magnum revolver officers recovered from the yard where Abran Raya Leon and his wife were found later July 23, 2021, and arrested.
Schoeman and the crime scene investigator said one shot was fired from the revolver, and seven shots were fired from Brown’s Glock pistol. The investigator could not say which shots were fired first.
Burt said she was able to line up the wounds in Brown’s left arm and the entrance wound in his left chest in a way that would be consistent with the path of a single bullet. The bullet passed through his left rib, left lung, heart, right lung, liver and right rib before stopping under the skin of his chest. The shot would’ve stopped his heart, she testified.
The medical examiner couldn’t determine the angle Brown’s torso would have been positioned in when he was shot. She said he could have remained conscious for a short time after suffering that wound, but she couldn’t say exactly how long.
Brown’s family, sitting in the front rows of the gallery, became emotional as prosecutors showed the jury photos of his injuries. Clark County Sheriff John Horch sat next to Brown’s wife, Jill Brown, for much of the day’s testimony.
Another forensic scientist said DNA samples from the Taurus revolver “very strongly” supported a match for Guillermo Raya Leon and Abran Raya Leon. She could not rule out Misty Raya’s DNA on the revolver, but she was less likely to be a match.
The state is scheduled to call its final witnesses Wednesday before prosecutors rest their case.
