More people were killed in Benton County in 2021 than any year in more than a decade.
Benton County Coroner Bill Leach reported there were nine homicides last year, topping the last record of seven in 2018. There were six in each of the previous couple years.
And two more deaths could be added to 2021’s grim tally, depending on the outcome of those death investigations.
One includes the death of Ryan Kaufman, an electrician who who went on a rampage that included killing his parents, before he died in a fiery police standoff. Investigators have yet to conclude if he was shot and killed by officers, died as a result of the fire or shot himself.
Across the river, Franklin County had six homicides in 2021, the same number the year before and one fewer than 2019, said Coroner Curtis McGary.
All together, all but three of the homicides in the two counties happened during two months — August and September.
And there have been no arrests in five of the deaths.
Benton County deaths
Benton County’s nine homicides include three people killed during the August spree along with three deaths without any arrests.
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The first homicide of the year stemmed from a fight 31 years earlier. Curtis Dennison, 53, died in April 19 in connection to a seizure disorder he developed following a fight at a Seattle hockey game in 1990. Seattle police are in charge of the investigation.
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Ryan Kaufman’s deadly crime spree on Aug. 25 left a neighbor, Emil Zlatich, 77, and Kaufman’s parents, Daniel and Vicki Kaufman, 75 and 68, dead. Zlatich was found shot inside his burning home. His parents were found dead inside their Kennewick home, where their son then tried to set a fire. Kaufman, a union electrician, also started fires in two union buildings before he died in his burning truck in West Richland surrounded by officers. The Tri-City Regional Special Investigations Unit and other police agencies are continuing to investigate what happened that day.
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Hector Cortez-Ballardo, 33, was found dead by a mail carrier on Sept. 14 while the carrier was doing her deliveries east of Highway 395/Interstate 82. Cortez-Ballardo was a laborer from Mexico. Benton County investigators haven’t released any new information, including how he died, and no arrests have been made.
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Jaden Quintero, 23, was shot Sept. 17 in front of a home on the 200 block of South Washington Street in Kennewick. Little additional information has been released since he was found dead and no one was arrested. Six years earlier, he and his brother Nathan Quintero were arrested in the killing George Garcia Thacker, 18, in Pasco. Jaden admitted rendering criminal assistance and spent nearly two years in jail. His older brother, who had a long history of gang violence, and is serving a 16-year prison sentence.
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Alyssa Moore, 18, was found shot to death Sept. 22 at the intersection of Seventh Place and South Kent Street in Kennewick. The Grandview High grad dreamed of pursuing a music career. Police are continuing to investigate her death, but no one has been arrested.
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A 5-week on baby died in Richland after his mother and father brought him into the hospital on Sept. 24. His father Jose L. Rosas Olivo, 28, is charged with second-degree murder and homicide by abuse.
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Beckett Smith, 22, was shot on Nov. 15 by Jawan V. Osby as he crawled through the window of a Kennewick apartment. Osby was initially arrested but was released and has not been charged. Investigators initially found that Smith went through the window to help a woman who had been locked out. After stepping out of the door, he was shot by Osby. Detectives say they are continuing to investigate.
Franklin County deaths
Franklin County had six homicides, half are classified as vehicular homicides by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office, including one involving a police chase and a hit-and-run death near the Tri-City Airport.
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Karli Moore, 23, died in a wreck on May 9 when Ricky G. Cruz-Perez, 28, drove into the path of a semi on Highway 395 as he fled police. Cruz-Perez also died. Moore was a passenger in the Hyundai Elantra, which had been in front of the home she shared with her father. Someone called 911 to report a suspicious car, and when deputies came to check, Cruz-Perez raced away. Two deputies were following Cruz-Perez when he ran a stop sign at Highway 395 and drove into the path of the southbound semi. Washington State Patrol Investigators found Cruz-Perez was at fault.
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Jose A. Garcia Lopez, 26, was found dead Aug. 5 in an alley on the 1900 block of West Hopkins Street in Pasco. People reported hearing gunshots in the residential neighborhood shortly after 11 p.m. No one has been arrested. The death followed a series of reports of gunfire in that area in previous weeks.
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Bobby G. Burgess, 51, was stabbed to death at a Pasco mobile home park Aug. 21 reportedly over a car dispute. Pasco police say Marta Miller, 54, of Kennewick, hired a taxi driver to wait for her while she confronted Burgess at his home. She is charged with second-degree murder.
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Luis Mortaya Hernandez, 55, was killed in a hit-and-run on Aug. 22 while he was walking near the Tri-Cities Airport warehouse area. He was found unconscious at 1:30 a.m. by the side of the road but died days later at Kadlec Regional Medical Center. Police say they have found the driver but he has not been arrested or charged and no other information was released.
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Shirley Nelson, 63, Kennewick, was killed and her passenger severely hurt on Sept. 4 in a T-bone crash at the Court Street and Road 88. Nelson was driving in a 1933 Willys hot rod following a classic car show when it collided with a Toyota Camry. The Camry driver, a woman in her 20s, and her passenger also were injured. At the time, Pasco police said the investigation would take time. The classic car was not equipped with seat belts.
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Richard “Dick” Lenhart, a Pasco bus driver, was stabbed to death Sept. 24 while picking up a load of children after school. Pasco police said Joshua D. Davis, 34, boarded the bus at the school, asking for a ride. When he was told that he couldn’t take him, Davis attacked him. Davis is charged with first-degree murder and he is currently being psychologically evaluated by doctors from Eastern State Hospital.
Unresolved cases
No one has been arrested in three of the Benton County homicides and one in Pasco. And in another case, the man initially arrested in a Kennewick shooting was released.
Kennewick Lt. Jason Kiel said they are still looking for suspects in their unsolved cases. Sometimes evidence comes together quickly, and they are able to arrest someone within the first few days.
But in other cases, the investigation can continue for much longer. Sometimes it’s an improvement in technology, and sometimes it’s a change in relationships that can lead to a new lead in a case, he said.
“They’re continually working the cases and putting the evidence together,” he said.
Benton County Sheriff’s Commander Lee Cantu said they face similar challenges. And in the unsolved death of Hector Cortez-Ballardo, found along a rural county road, he described it as a whodunit with a lot of moving parts.
“We have to treat it delicately to get the justice that the case deserves,” he said.