A family is mourning the death of a 31-year-old father of three who was shot and killed in last month’s drive-by shooting near a West Kelso gas station.
Tami Conway, 52, of Nevada, described the first 72 hours after being told of the death of her son, Cody Tamayo, of Kelso, as a time of endless sobbing.
She said Tamayo was on the phone with his brother just before the first shots rang out the evening of Aug. 13 near Boondox Gas and Grocery, at 705 West Cowlitz Way.
Her son had just grabbed tools to remodel the flooring of his new place with his father-in-law when the shooting occurred, his mother said.
Since their arrest about an hour after the shooting, Conner Santos Aguayo, 19, and Eligha Christian Buckner-Lopez, 18, of Longview, are facing one count each of first-degree premeditated murder and drive-by shooting.
Amanda Tamayo, 28, of Nevada, the sister to the victim, said her brother was a “giant teddy bear.”
“I know he didn’t look like one, but he was,” she said.
She said they grew up Rainier, then Longview, before moving to Reno, Nevada. When her brother returned to the Pacific Northwest, he met his wife and had a family.
On the night of the shooting, Amanda Tamayo said she missed numerous calls from her stepfather, who then called her boyfriend to reach her.
“I had a gut feeling something was wrong,” she said.
Her stepfather said her brother was shot. She could hear her mother crying hysterically in the background.
He called back at 11:30 p.m. to announce he died.
According to the police report, at 10:47 p.m., the Columbia County Medical Examiner pronounced Cody Tamayo “brain dead” and was kept alive on a ventilator for his organs to be donated.
His wife Samaria Tamayo told The Daily News her husband was a good man who didn’t deserve what happened to him. He left behind three children: a 2-month-old newborn, a 3-year-old and a 13-year-old from a previous relationship.
The shooting
Hours before the shooting, Santos Aguayo was at his ex-girlfriend’s residence in the 200 block of Olive Street in Kelso, while she was preparing for work, a police report states. When she exited the shower, she told authorities he and her white 2012 Chrysler 300 were missing.
Through the social media app Snapchat, she made over 10 calls to Santos Aguayo from 6:35 p.m. to 6:40 p.m., trying to find the location of her car. In some of the calls, he would answer but then disconnect.
At 7:34 p.m., the ex-girlfriend reported her Chrysler stolen to the police, the report states.
However, a different police report says authorities discovered the ex-girlfriend, who works at the Longview Jack in the Box, lied about her car being stolen.
Law enforcement obtained security camera footage from the Longview Jack in the Box which they say shows the ex driving the Chrysler at 5:23 p.m.
In the video, she and Santos Aguayo step out of the Chrysler, and he gets into driver’s seat while Buckner-Lopez, in the back seat, moves to the passenger seat. Santos Aguayo and his ex-girlfriend kiss before he leaves, the report states.
Kelso police responded to the shooting at about 6:49 p.m., finding Cody Tamayo in his black truck with a gunshot wound to his head. He was later airlifted to a hospital in Clark County.
Later in Rainier, police located the abandoned Chrysler. At about 7:40 p.m., a police report states Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies talked with a person who said Santos Aguayo asked to be picked up in the area.
Kelso police spokesperson Capt. Rich Fletcher said the department has not determined whether the shooting was gang related.
However, Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Patricia Fassett granted the state’s motion on Aug. 21 to seal a brief concerning the detention of the defendants awaiting trial, citing concerns that the document’s contents could “lead to retaliation based on things discussed in the brief.”
The seal applies only to the memorandum and not the entire case file. “The public safety aspect outweighs the public interest,” the document states.
The victim also had a criminal record, which includes charges for assault and possessing narcotics with intent to deliver, but his family said he had made serious efforts to improve his life. They said he did not know the shooters and he was not in a gang.
Santos Aguayo’s ex-girlfriend told authorities she feared for her life and her family’s after receiving threatening calls regarding her vehicle’s involvement in the shooting, according to a police report.
Fletcher previously said Santos Aguayo is related to Ruperto Aguayo, who is currently facing a manslaughter charge for the 2023 beating death of Grant Hadler, who owned Grant’s at the Monticello Hotel in Longview.
According to Santos Aguayo’s police report, his listed address matches the address on Ruperto Aguayo’s 2023 police report.
