In the pre-dawn hours of September 6, 2023, Devin Michael Rowden, 32, of Newport, Washington, was killed in an alley in north Spokane after a verbal argument with another man turned physical and then into gunfire. Rowden was with a friend, 24-year-old Saxxon McKinney, when punches were exchanged and a third man fell to the ground; witnesses heard the shots and saw people flee. McKinney was struck in the upper left leg and survived. Rowden was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center but died of a penetrating gunshot wound to the torso; the Spokane County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Two days later, authorities arrested 19-year-old Abraham Evaristo-Valderas and charged him with second-degree murder in Rowden’s death and first-degree assault for McKinney’s wounding. Investigators say Evaristo-Valderas also was connected to a separate shooting later that day. He told police he admitted to shooting but said he acted in self-defense, claiming he believed he was being attacked and that his firearm was about to be taken, and that he and Rowden were friends.

What did anyone who was in that area before or during the altercation see or hear that could clarify how the fight escalated to shots being fired?