A 20-year-old man has been arrested in his friend’s fatal shooting that happened inside a vehicle in Pierce County two years ago.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Julian Hart with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter for the killing of 21-year-old An’Jai Whitted on May 21, 2022. Whitted was fatally shot while inside a vehicle with his friends outside the Nantucket Apartments, charging documents show.
Arrest details
Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Hart Tuesday afternoon after they conducted a traffic stop near Safeway at Canyon Road East and 176th Street East. Court records show a bench warrant was issued for Hart on June 21.
Magazines for 9mm handguns were found in the front and back passenger seats of the vehicle, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department in a news release.
One other passenger, a convicted felon, also was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm, the release said. Both were booked into Pierce County Jail.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Hart’s behalf at his arraignment on Wednesday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Philip Thornton set Hart’s bail at $750,000, court records show.
Charging details
On May 21, 2022, deputies were dispatched at 11:55 p.m. to reports of a shooting. The victim was taken to St. Clare’s Hospital in a black Chevy Camaro, prosecutors wrote.
At the hospital deputies spoke to a witness who was friends with Whitted. The friend claimed he did not see the shooting because he was upstairs in his apartment while his three friends, including Whitted, were downstairs. He heard his friends yell, “he’s shot!” They all then went to the hospital with Whitted for his injuries, prosecutors wrote.
That witness was the only person still at the hospital when deputies arrived. When asked why his other friends left, the witness said he did not know why. Deputies learned the other two males were Hart and a man identified as “B.G.” in charging documents.
Whitted underwent surgery and died from his injuries, documents show.
The witness told deputies they were all hanging out at his apartment when Whitted decided he was going to leave. The witness then fell asleep and woke up to someone saying that Whitted had been shot. When the witness was asked additional questions, he was “evasive” and did not name the other people who were present.
The Camaro, found parked on Chicago Avenue, had blood inside the vehicle and a single expended shell casing on the back seat. Hart was living with his mother near the location on Chicago Avenue, prosecutors wrote.
Detectives discovered a bullet hole on the seat back of the front passenger seat. They concluded that Whitted was shot in the back while he was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Camaro. A Glock and a Tokarev semi-automatic pistol were recovered from the vehicle, documents show.
Detectives alleged that the Tokarev belonged to Hart after they found photos of him on social media with the firearm, including one taken on May 22, 2022, that showed him with a message saying he “never missed,” prosecutors wrote.
Messages were found from Hart’s texts where Whitted’s sister asked him to provide her with his phone number and he did not respond, prosecutors wrote. He also did not respond to a message from Whitted’s girlfriend asking if he had been with the victim the night he was shot.
Detectives also reviewed B.G’s messages from his Instagram. In a text exchange with an unidentified person, B.G denied that he killed Whitted. When asked what happened, B.G. replied, “All I heard was a shot go off.” He said he got out of the car and called for medical personnel. He also confirmed that only one shot was fired, prosecutors wrote.
In another conversation, B.G. confirmed that the first witness was not present when shots were fired. Prosecutors wrote that the only other person who had been in the car at the time when the gunshot was fired was Hart.
Hart does not have any known criminal convictions, records show.
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