On a warm summer evening in Lacey, Washington, the sky was alive with the vibrant bursts of the annual July 3rd fireworks show at Rainier Vista Park. For Jordan Pilbro, a 43-year-old White male from the nearby town of Yelm, the celebration would tragically be his last. The year was 2022, and as the dazzling display concluded around 10:20 p.m., thousands of people began to stream out of the park.
In the darkness that followed, about forty minutes after the last firework faded, an argument broke out between two groups on an undeveloped piece of land south of the park on Parkside Drive Southeast.
The verbal altercation quickly escalated. Witnesses later reported hearing shouting followed by the sharp crack of gunshots piercing the night air. When police responded to the 5400 block of 50th Avenue Southeast, they found Jordan Pilbro with a gunshot wound. Despite immediate life-saving efforts by the officers, he died at the scene. The festive atmosphere of the evening had been shattered by an act of violence that left a family and community in shock. Pilbro was remembered as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, the primary provider for his loved ones.
In the days that followed, the Lacey Police Department launched an investigation, gathering witness statements and appealing to the public for any information or video footage from the area. Witnesses were only able to give a vague description of the suspect as a Black man wearing dark clothing. The investigation led police to a 19-year-old from Centralia named Kinyoce Z. Chatman. He was arrested at his home without incident on July 7, 2022.
Chatman was booked into the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, and his bail was set at $1 million. On July 14, 2022, he was formally charged with second-degree murder. In December 2022, as part of a plea deal, the charge was amended, and Kinyoce Zavion Chatman was sentenced for second-degree manslaughter while armed with a firearm and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
