Defense attorneys for the two men charged with the shooting deaths of three Pierce County men whose bodies were found in March in unincorporated Kent argued Wednesday in court that the men should be allowed to wear civilian clothing and not have their faces photographed by the media when they appear Thursday to be arraigned on first-degree murder charges.
But King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts denied both of those motions, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The case also has been moved back to the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent from the King County Courthouse in Seattle. Jose Alfredo Velez-Fombona, 25, of Kent, and co-defendant Alberto Avila-Cardenas, 36, of Lakewood, are scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Regional Justice Center.
The arguments by the defense attorneys about whether the media should be allowed to photograph the two men caused the postponement last week of the arraignments in Seattle.
Velez-Fombona and Avila-Cardenas have been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. They remain in custody at the county jail in Seattle with bail set at $10 million. They will be transferred to the Regional Justice Center for the Thursday arraignments.
Prosecutors claim Velez-Fombona and Avila-Cardenas are responsible for the deaths on Dec. 12 of Jesus Bejar-Avila, 25, Yazmani Quezada-Ortiz, 26 and Cristian Alberto Rangel, 19.
The murder charges include firearm enhancements. If convicted as charged, each defendant faces a sentence range of 75 to 95 years in prison.
The bodies of the three men were found March 10 by an employee of Rainier Nursery near the West Valley Highway, in the 26200 block of 65th Avenue South. The three men had been shot in the head and then buried.
The motive for the killings appears to be connected with a shooting in Lakewood that resulted in the death of two people and a foot injury to Avila-Cardenas, according to charging papers. It is believed that a cousin of Quezada-Ortiz may have been the shooter in the incident.
Detectives from the King County Sheriff’s Office and the Lakewood Police continue to investigate the case. It is possible a third man also was involved in the kidnapping and murders, according to court documents.
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