Inessa G. Kryshta, a 27-year-old female, was found deceased on the evening of August 23, 2021, in Vancouver, Washington. A 911 call for a welfare check led Vancouver police to a Chevron gas station on East Fourth Plain Boulevard at approximately 9:40 p.m. There, they discovered Inessa slumped over inside her car. Medical personnel were called to the scene and determined she had sustained a gunshot wound to her upper right arm and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Clark County Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that her death was a homicide resulting from a gunshot wound.
Investigators found a spent 9 mm shell casing on the ground near the rear of Inessa's vehicle, and a box of 9 mm handgun ammunition was visible on the front passenger seat. Surveillance footage from the gas station showed her arriving at 9:24 p.m. and driving out of the camera's view. Information from Inessa's mother and a friend pointed investigators toward a man she had recently become involved with, identified as 29-year-old Austin J. Navarro. Phone records indicated a nearly two-minute call between Inessa and Navarro at 9:21 p.m., just before her arrival at the Chevron. About fifteen minutes after the call, 911 callers reported that Inessa appeared to be having a medical episode.
With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service, investigators located Austin J. Navarro on the following Friday at a Shell gas station on West Fourth Plain Boulevard. When officers approached, Navarro fled on foot and appeared to reach for a firearm in his waistband before he fell, got up, and jumped over a fence. He was subsequently taken into custody. Navarro, who had five prior felony convictions, was charged with second-degree domestic violence murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.
In July 2024, a Clark County Superior Court jury found Austin J. Navarro, then 32, guilty of second-degree domestic violence murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with Inessa Kryshta's death. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Navarro's actions demonstrated his intent to kill his former girlfriend when they met at the gas station for him to retrieve some of his belongings. Navarro testified that he had brought the gun due to his past gang affiliations and claimed the weapon discharged accidentally when he dropped it. The prosecution described his version of events as "magical," pointing out that the bullet traveled through a small one-inch gap in the passenger-side window without shattering the glass. The jury deliberated for less than a day before reaching their guilty verdict. Navarro was scheduled for sentencing in August 2024.
