On the evening of May 28, 2025, 44-year-old Hispanic man Juan Pablo Acosta was found dead in his car near Schwana, Washington, on Road T.5 SW just south of Lower Crab Creek Road. Acosta had earlier phoned a friend saying he was being pursued by what he described as gangsters; the friend went looking for him and found Acosta’s vehicle riddled with bullet holes. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office reviewed security camera footage from a Schwana business that captured a white Chrysler 300 leaving the area around the time witnesses reported gunfire. That vehicle was identified as having been at the business when Acosta drove past and is believed to have begun pursuing him there. Investigators found no known gang ties for Acosta and believe he did not personally know the people who targeted him.

Within a short period authorities arrested 23-year-old Angel Luis Oliveras in Ephrata the same night while he was driving the suspect vehicle, and later took into custody 19-year-olds Isaac Almeida-Chittim of East Wenatchee and Gilberto Sanchez Medina of Mattawa. The three face charges including first-degree murder and drive-by shooting; multiple firearms were seized. What was the motive for targeting Acosta, and can anyone who was in the Schwana area that night help fill in the gaps?