Athena O. Wells, 50, was fatally shot inside an East Central Spokane apartment in the early morning hours of July 14, 2026. Police were dispatched shortly before 1:30 a.m. after a man called 911 to report his friend had been shot. Officers found Wells with a gunshot wound to the chest; emergency responders attempted to save her but she died. A .380-caliber pistol was found on the living-room floor near the base of a sectional couch.

Multiple people had been inside the apartment when the firearm discharged. One witness said he and his girlfriend were on one side of the sectional watching television while Wells was on the opposite side; he heard a shot as he was drifting off, saw Wells jump up and then collapse. Another resident described a loud pop and then finding Wells bleeding and the gun on the floor.

Huntoon, 52, was arrested July 14, 2026, and charged with second-degree manslaughter alleging criminal negligence caused Wells’ death, and with first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm based on a prior felony DUI conviction that allegedly prohibited him from possessing the pistol. The filing of charges is not a finding of guilt. Did anyone who knew Athena or was at the Haven Street apartment that night see something that wasn’t reported to investigators?