A 30-year-old man shot and killed two people early Monday in a Lakewood apartment the day after his uncle died after overdosing in the same unit, according to charging documents.
Ontario Lavell Pruitt was charged in Pierce County Superior Court with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf at arraignment Tuesday afternoon. Commissioner Craig Adams set bail at $5 million. In arguing for that bail amount, deputy prosecuting attorney Afton Gregson said although Pruitt turned himself in, he didn't provide information about the firearm used in the shooting. Records say it hasn't been recovered. She also said the state considered him a flight risk because he is transient. According to a pretrial services report, the defendant reported he could stay at an address in Tacoma if he were to be released.
Pruitt appeared for the hearing shackled and in a yellow smock. Corrections deputies from Pierce County Jail requested the use of restraints for the safety of the defendant and courtroom staff. A deputy testified that the defendant had been on suicide precautions at the jail and had been yelling while being brought to court. Adams granted the request after hearing from the state and the defense.
Outside the courtroom, Darryl Williams, 60, told The News Tribune that his uncle, Joseph Smith, was one of the men who died in the shooting. Williams said he'd seen Smith as recently as last weekend. Smith had lived in Lakewood for more than a decade, he said, and the man would have been 71 at the end of the month. He said the fact that the overdose death happened in Smith's apartment doesn't mean his uncle was making anyone take drugs.
"Joe wouldn't harm a soul," Williams said.
Pruitt called a Lakewood Police Department detective the day of the shooting to turn himself in, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. He allegedly told deputies he was sorry for what happened and that he had overreacted. Prosecutors wrote in charging papers that he has prior felony convictions, including convictions for first-degree theft, third-degree assault, attempted unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm.
According to the probable cause document, Pruitt's uncle died Sunday after overdosing, possibly on fentanyl, at Wisteria Walk Apartments, 3607 112th St. SW. In the early hours of Monday morning, the defendant, his cousin and a friend went there to inquire about the details of the overdose. The uncle reportedly raised Pruitt and was like a father to him.
The cousin later told detectives Pruitt was face-to-face with one man — identified in the documents as J.S. — when the victim fell to the ground and gunshots rang out. The cousin reportedly said he immediately fled, and according to detectives, he was adamant that he and the friend he was with didn't know Pruitt had a gun, records state.
The victims have yet to be publicly identified. According to court records and police, J.S. was a tenant of the apartment, and he was about 70 years old. Police said the other victim, who was in his 50s, was J.S.'s acquaintance.
Detectives believe Pruitt pushed J.S. to the ground when he opened the apartment door, shot the other man, then fired six bullets into J.S. while he was on the ground, according to the probable cause document. The other victim reportedly appeared to have a single gunshot wound to his head and a possible second shot to his shoulder blade.
