A 30-year-old man originally accused of murder is now believed to have been defending another man.
Several witnesses came forward after more than a year to say Lonny “Lil Blue” Barton-Owens’ actions in September 2022 were justified, said Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge.
That led prosecutors to drop the second-degree murder charge.
“I want to note for the family, this is not a light decision,” Grandgeorge said during a hearing this week in Benton County Superior Court. “While it may not feel like it to so many in this room, this is the decision that justice demands.”
While he may have been acting in self-defense, Barton-Owens’ history of felony convictions meant he wasn’t supposed to have a gun.
And after an emotional, hour-long hearing, Judge Jackie Stam sentenced him to a year and four months, the maximum end of the Washington sentencing range for having the weapon illegally. He’s already served more than that awaiting trial. He was released from jail on Thursday.
During the hearing, Fernando “Prophecy” Pulido’s family called him a man of God, who defended his family and now won’t be able to see his six children grow up.
“My brother may have not been perfect, but he was no killer. He did not deserve to die,” his sister said. “There is no justice for my brother Fernando.”
“Fernando’s life mattered,” his mother Maria Guzman said. “The day my son died, it took a piece of my heart. I felt like a zombie. ... I miss him every day.”
While Barton-Owens, a father as well, did not want to speak at the hearing, his attorney Katherine Bohnet said he wanted the judge to know that he was sorry for the Pulido family’s loss.
She added that he would live with his actions for the rest of his life.
2022 shooting
Pulido, 36, was found with a gunshot wound to his stomach at a home on the 3700 block of West Fourth Avenue just after 10 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2022.
He died soon after at Trios Southridge Hospital. Court documents say he had some methamphetamine in his pockets.
As officers searched the house, they discovered signs of a struggle and a fired shell casing outside a bedroom.
Witnesses reported that Pulido came over to the house where Barton-Owens and a man called “Sharky” were in the “smoke room.” Pulido and “Sharky” had a previous altercation that left Pulido seriously hurt.
“Sharky” was armed with a bat, but Pulido was able to take it away from him and started beating him. Barton-Owens then got a gun and shot Pulido.
Barton Owens was arrested in November 2022 by a U.S. Marshals task force working in Pasco. He’s been in jail since then.
Good father, brother, son
Pulido was one of several siblings who grew up with a single mother trying to make ends meet. Four of his sisters and his mother were at this week’s sentencing.
They said he protected them. And while he sometimes used violence, they said he wasn’t a bully. He was kind to the people he loved, they said.
Several said that they would choose to forgive Barton-Owens because they didn’t want to carry hate, but they also didn’t feel like Pulido was getting justice.
They noted that Barton-Owens ran from the scene rather than call police for help, and then took Pulido’s BMW.
Bianca Pulido said it’s hard to know that no one at the home had the “decency to call for help” and instead fled and continued living their lives.
“It takes more courage to forgive than it does to hate,” she said. “You have made it difficult to live up to what I believe. It is only because Fernando’s soul deserves peace.”
They noted his death has taken a toll on the family, especially because it came just weeks after his grandmother’s death.
Illegal gun possession
Grandgeorge told Stam that his office had spent a lot of time investigating the shooting, and it wasn’t until they were able to interview several witnesses that they decided to drop the murder charge.
“Fernando wasn’t perfect, but he did not deserve to die,” Grandgeorge said. “No one deserves to die.”
He hoped that Pulido’s family could take some solace in their memories of him.
While he expressed sympathy for the family, he noted that it is important that prosecutors act in the interest of justice.
Bohnet echoed that she didn’t believe that the prosecutors took dismissing the murder charge lightly. But for her part, she said Barton-Owens was a good man.
“He has many people who love him and who supported him,” she said. “Everybody that I talked to about Lonnie was shocked that he was involved.”
Stam agreed with the recommendation, saying that Barton-Owens had been charged with illegally having a gun and not murder.
“If anything, I hope that your comments have made an impact on (Barton-Owens),” she said. “I believe that he has heard you and is going to absorb the things that you said.”
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