By: Kienan Briscoe
LYNNWOOD, Wash., June 15, 2023—On Tuesday, June 13, 2023, Lynnwood Police Department Detectives announced the arrest of three individuals in connection with the Spruce Park homicides that took place on July 14th, 2022.
That night, responding officers found two male victims—15-year-old Tidus Goodwin-Linville and 16-year-old Jesus Sanchez Jr.—with life-threatening gunshot wounds in Spruce Park at around 9:15 p.m. The victims were immediately transported to area hospitals where they later succumbed to their injuries.
On Tuesday, one juvenile and two adults, aged 29 and 24 years old, were taken into custody and charged with aggravated murder in the first degree. According to the Snohomish County jail roster, the adult suspects are Jose Alfredo Beteran and Christian Jovany Chavez.
Chavez is charged with two counts of Aggravated Murder 1, a Class A Felony, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class B Felony. Beteran is charged with two counts of Murder 1 [Non-Family-Weapon], a Class A Felony. If convicted, both suspects are facing life imprisonment. Bond is set at $2,000,000 for each suspect.
In 2011, Beteran, 16 at the time, was sentenced to 10 years in adult prison on October 25, for shooting a 17-year-old boy outside Horizen Elementary School in May. For this incident, that took place at the basketball court, he pled guilty to first-degree assault.
Between November of 2022 to April of 2023, Chavez was arrested multiple times for the following incidents:
– Attempt to elude, Felony C, Everett Police Department
– Firearm possession unlawful 2, Felony C, Everett Police Department
– Assault 4 DV, Gross Misdemeanor, Everett Police Department
– Driving with suspended license 2, Dismissed
– Driving under the influence, sentenced March 31, 2023, served 1 day
– Reckless Endangerment, Gross Misdemeanor
– Driving with suspended license 2, Gross Misdemeanor
– Driving with suspended license 2, Gross Misdemeanor
– Malicious Mischief 3 DV, Gross Misdemeanor
– Theft 3
– Chavez was released from the Snohomish County Jail on April 11 and on bond for Malicious – – Mischief 3 DV and Theft 3, when he was apprehended by Lynnwood Police.
“This terrible crime has forever changed the lives of the family, friends and loved ones of these two teenage members of our community, whose lives were senselessly cut short far too soon,” said Chief Jim Nelson. “This investigation has remained a priority for our detectives and the Snohomish County Prosecutors, who have remained steadfast and unrelenting in their pursuit of those responsible for this heinous act, which has led to the arrest of these three suspects. Our thoughts remain with the family members of these two young men.”
In a response to the shooting, Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell in a statement released in July of 2022, committed to increasing law enforcement staffing levels.
“We are committed to ensuring that Lynnwood’s Parks and our neighborhoods are a safe and welcoming place for all people to enjoy, and we are working hard to address these issues now and into the future,” Mayor Frizzell wrote.
The Spruce park double homicides
On July 14, 2022, Detective Sattorov, and other investigators, responded to a reported shooting at Spruce Neighborhood Park.
Witnesses on scene told investigators they saw a black and white SUV pull up to the park, heard what sounded like gunshots, then saw the two juvenile victims fall to the ground before the vehicle sped away. One witness believed he saw two people in the car, although he could not make out the backseat due to tinted windows. Another witness gave a similar statement but believed she saw four people in the vehicle, court documents obtained by the Lynnwood Times state.
Detective Sattorov located the vehicle on street camera footage, which matched the license plate number and description the witnesses reported – identified as a Chevrolet Tahoe registered to Beteren.
Two interviewees told Detective Arnett the vehicle entered the park and a male from the backseat, described as Hispanic around the age of 15-19 with a “shiny bald head” stated: “what’s your set?” and “where are you from?” One of the victims responded “Southside Locos” or “South Everett Clique” and the other said “what’s up homie, what’s up?”
The male in the vehicle, who had a black bandana in his right hand with his firearm, interviewees said, then fired at the two juveniles and they fell to the ground bleeding. The girlfriends also noted the shooter had a tattoo on his right arm of “words surrounded by clouds,” and the brand of t-shirt he was wearing was popular among gang members.
The victims were transported to Providence Regional Medical Center where they were both pronounced dead by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner. The cause of death was gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was homicide.
Chavez and Sattarov were actively looking to get involved in a shooting as part of the juvenile’s initiation into the Doble gang, court documents state. They had been told about “tagging” being done at Spruce Park so decided to start there. Chavez began shooting the minute the victims mentioned their affiliation with the Southside Locos and the juvenile joined in.
Related cases leading to arrest
On June 8, 2022, reports from Everett Police Officer Sinex describe a gang-related gun fight occurring in Walter Hall Park in Everett. One of the gangs involved in this incident was WBP, a subgroup of gang Doble, which was known by Officer Sinex to be a rival gang to Florencia – the other gang involved, court documents state.
On July 13, 2022, a drive-by shooting incident occurred in the Fred Meyer parking lot on 164th Street Avenue West in Lynnwood. The suspect’s vehicle was driven by Anthony Lozano, a known Florencia gang member involved in the Walter Hall Park shooting incident. One of the victim’s was the juvenile’s, who was involved in the Spruce Park shooting, sister.
According to witnesses the vehicle drove past, its occupants flashed hand gestures associated with the Florencia gang, then opened fire. The juvenile then chased after the vehicle, firing his handgun in its direction street camera footage captured. Three 40 S&W casings were collected at the scene and brought in for evidence. These casings were determined to be a match to casings found at the scene of the Spruce Park murders by the Washington State Patrol crime lab.
On July 14, 2022, the day of the Spruce Park murders, security camera footage shows a man, later identified as Christian Chavez, exit a black Lincoln vehicle appearing to be equipped with a handgun. Chavez is then seen entering the 1996 white and black Chevrolet Tahoe involved in the Spruce Park murders. Everett police reports also indicate that Chavez’s Lincoln was previously involved in an attempt to elude incident with Everett police on July 14.
Detective Sattarov obtained a search warrant for cell phone logs and the vehicle involved in the incident. Both Chavez and the juvenile suspect’s cell phone’s were traced to Spruce Park at the time of the shooting. Washington State Patrol crime lab also confirmed DNA of Chavez, Beteran, and the juvenile suspect were found in the vehicle as was a black bandana.
Ballistics analysis determined the casings found at Spruce Park belonged to two different weapons.
At the time of the offense, Beteran was under community custody from a First Degree Assault conviction in which he was penalized with 120 months in jail followed by 36 months of community custody. He also also had three juvenile felony convictions for a Third Degree Assault charge in 2009 and two misdemeanor assault charges.
Chavez had two juvenile felony convictions, one for Third Degree Assault in 2015 and one for Second Degree Burglary in 2016.
The juvenile in question had no prior criminal convictions but was fighting First Degree Assault and Juvenile in Possession of a Firearm charges from a shooting that allegedly occurred on August 18, 2022. He was on house arrest as conditions of release for this pending charge. In February, 2023, a shooting also occurred near the Denney Juvenile Detention Center in which it is suspected the juvenile was the intended target, according to court records.
Given the evidence, the court issued arrest warrants for these three suspects and assigned bail at $2,000,000.
Both Beteran and Chavez’s jury trial is scheduled for August 11, 2023, at 9:30 a.m.
2 Responses
Re: Spruce park murders,
What a sad state our country is in. This article is well written outlining point by point criminal evidence perpetrated by these delusional idiots. Thank you Lynwood times. These are flawed individuals with little chance of rehabilitation to be positive elements in our free society.
So, when you walk out your front door everyday do you want more of the same insane behavior? My opinion is no, I want my family to live in a free safe world. I believe the only way to curb this behavior is to lock these criminals up the first time for long periods.
How about sentencing of five years for possessing a gun during a crime, ten years for menacing or leveling a gun at someone, twenty for shooting a gun during a crime, and fifty years for shooting someone. No plea deals.
There is no way to control the number of guns on the streets. All the laws for reducing guns or types of guns are a joke, just political bluster. Stiff penalties are the only way to curb this behavior.
Had enough? Good luck to us all.