Suspect In Wenatchee Murder To Be Sentenced On Lesser Charges

One of the two men charged in a fatal drive-by shooting last year in south Wenatchee will be sentenced for lessor charges next month. 

A plea deal will allow 26-year-old Andrew Francis Morrow to avoid facing a 2nd Degree Murder Sentence. 

Morrow was one of two men accused of gunning down 21-year-old David Lomeli-Vasquez on Methow Street in Wenatchee. 

He entered an In Re Barr Plea, which is based on a Washington Supreme Court decision allowing a defendant to plead guilty to a non-related, different and less serious offense in order to receive the benefit of a plea bargain. 

He'll be sentenced on Sept. 13 in Chelan County Superior Court for vehicular homicide, drive by shooting and attempting to elude police. His plea deal included an admission to recklessly firing a gun. 

Vasquez family was in court Wednesday when Morrow's plea deal was finalized and agreed with the amended charges.  

Morrow and 24-year-old Benito Eduardo Licea were accused in the drive-by-shooting, which took place in April of 2022. Both were caught the next day in East Wenatchee. Vasquez was injured in the head during the shooting and died the next day. 

Licea still faces trial in Vasquez’s death. Detectives do not think he pulled the trigger. 

However, Licea has additional charges of assault and attempted murder against a corrections officer from earlier this year at Chelan County jail. 

Corrections Deputy Jesus A. Olivera, 23, was the victim in that assault  

He received minor injuries and returned to work but died last month in a motorcycle accident. 

Morrow had been in Chelan County Jail on a $2 million bond. while Licea had a bail of $1 million bail.