On the evening of May 19, 2023, a chaotic scene unfolded at the Columbia Park Apartments in Richland, Washington, culminating in the tragic death of 20-year-old Edree D'Love Thompson. Thompson, a father from Kennewick, was shot multiple times and later died at a local hospital. Friends remembered him as a warm, respectful, and upbeat person whose greatest joy was his daughter.
The events leading to the fatal shooting began when Thompson accompanied a friend, Melissa Klug, to the apartment complex to help her sister, Christina Cato, retrieve her children from their father's home. An argument erupted between Thompson and a group of people at the complex. The situation escalated into a physical altercation, and what happened next was captured in a chaotic cellphone video that would become a key piece of evidence.
During the confrontation, Antoine R. "Peanut" Surge, 45, injected himself into the dispute. Witnesses stated that Surge approached Thompson with a gun. The weapon was initially knocked from his hand and discharged when it hit the ground. Surge then picked up the gun and pursued Thompson. As Thompson tried to flee, Surge fired a second shot, which struck him in the back and severed his aorta.
Following an investigation, authorities identified Antoine Surge as the primary suspect. He was arrested in Ellensburg several days after the shooting on a $5 million warrant. Surge, who had a previous murder conviction from 2002, was charged with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
In June 2025, Antoine Surge's trial for the murder of Edree Thompson commenced. Prosecutors presented the cellphone video and witness testimony to build their case, arguing that Surge's interference in the argument led directly to Thompson's death. The defense contended that the video was unclear and that witness accounts were unreliable. After a nine-day trial and a day and a half of deliberation, the jury found Antoine R. "Peanut" Surge guilty of second-degree murder. Due to his prior convictions, the verdict marked his "third strike" under Washington's persistent offender law, resulting in a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
