On a Tuesday afternoon in February 2014, the life of 25-year-old Daniel Leonard Dechand came to an abrupt and violent end. Dechand was a passenger in a Chevrolet Blazer, driven by his friend David Wayne Newton, when they stopped to pick up 22-year-old Timothy Allen Kelly, who was walking along West Highland Avenue just outside of Hermiston, Oregon. The men were acquainted with each other and proceeded to drive through Hermiston, eventually ending up on Sunshine Lane.
It was inside the vehicle on this quiet road that the situation turned deadly.
For reasons that remain speculative, Kelly shot Dechand multiple times. In the immediate aftermath, Kelly fled the vehicle and disappeared into the surrounding area, sparking a manhunt. Newton, in a desperate attempt to save his friend, rushed Dechand to the Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Dechand succumbed to his injuries approximately an hour after the shooting and was pronounced dead.
The Umatilla/Morrow County Major Crimes Team immediately launched an investigation, identifying Kelly as the prime suspect. For several days, numerous law enforcement agencies searched for Kelly, who remained at large. The investigation involved processing the Chevrolet Blazer as evidence and interviewing witnesses to piece together the events that led to the fatal encounter. While the search for Kelly was underway, those who knew Dechand remembered him as a man who loved his family and was striving to overcome a troubled past, especially for his young daughter.
Six days after the shooting, Timothy Allen Kelly surrendered to authorities near Hood River. He was arrested and charged with the murder of Daniel Leonard Dechand. However, the legal proceedings took an unexpected turn. During the investigation, evidence emerged suggesting that at the time of the shooting, Dechand may have been attempting to rob Kelly. This led to the possibility that Kelly had acted in self-defense. When the case was presented to a Umatilla County grand jury, they ultimately decided there was not enough evidence to indict Kelly on a murder charge. Consequently, the charge against him was dismissed, and he was released. The gun used in the shooting was later recovered from a rock pile near the scene after Kelly led investigators to its location.
