Thomas Baroni-Abrego, a 29-year-old man from Spokane, Washington, was fatally shot on March 20, 2016, after responding to what he believed was an arranged meeting to trade drugs for sex. He exchanged numerous text messages with someone he thought was a woman named McKenna; those messages were later described as a deceptive lure set up as part of a planned robbery.

Just after 9:30 p.m., a car with two women and three men pulled into the parking lot at 1320 N. Howard. Baroni-Abrego arrived in his own vehicle and the two women got in. Two men who had been hiding approached his car and one, identified as Isaiah B. Hamblin, fired at least four shots, fatally wounding Baroni-Abrego. Hamblin then got into Baroni-Abrego’s car and drove it away while the others fled in their vehicle.

Five people were arrested in connection with the case. Isaiah B. Hamblin, 25, and Kaitlyn I. Brocher, 18, were charged with first-degree murder; Jacob A. Smith, 19, also faced a first-degree murder charge. A 17-year-old female, Quiaunte Bridges, was charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit burglary and robbery. Nineteen-year-old Alonzo C. Favel later turned himself in. Court documents say the group planned the robbery together and intended to share any money and drugs taken from Baroni-Abrego; Hamblin was described as having organized the robbery.

If anyone has information about the planning or participants in this case, please share what is known.