On the evening of March 7, 2019, an argument fueled by alcohol tragically cut short the life of Pedro Beltran Palomares, a 27-year-old Hispanic male from Centralia, Washington. The night began with Palomares, Adan Sanchez, and Romulo Yanez Jr. drinking at a restaurant in Centralia before returning to Yanez's home in Grand Mound. There, a verbal dispute erupted between Palomares and Sanchez. As the argument intensified, Palomares suggested they "go outside and settle it."
Instead, Sanchez is alleged to have picked up a handgun that was on a table and shot Palomares twice.
A 911 call was placed around 11:36 p.m. by a juvenile in the home, who informed the dispatcher that his father's friend had been shot. The child’s father, later identified as Romulo Yanez Jr., reportedly took the phone and was uncooperative, yelling, "You have the address and that's all you need." When Thurston County sheriff's deputies arrived at the residence on Shamon Court Southwest, they found Yanez and two children, an 11-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, unharmed. Palomares was discovered inside the house on the ground, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his arm and torso. Responding deputies administered aid until medics arrived, but Palomares was pronounced dead at the scene on March 8, 2019.
The investigation that followed revealed an attempt to conceal the crime. Initially, Yanez was not forthcoming with detectives. It became apparent to law enforcement that someone had tried to alter the homicide scene and hide evidence. Investigators eventually located three semiautomatic handguns hidden inside a doghouse on the property. One of these weapons matched the caliber of two shell casings found at the scene, one in the living room and another near the backyard. Yanez later admitted to hiding the guns in a panic after the shooting.
As a result of his actions to obscure the crime, Romulo Yanez Jr., 38, was arrested and charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance. The primary suspect in the shooting, Adan Sanchez, 37, had fled the scene. However, he was located and stopped by a Washington State Patrol trooper in East Lewis County in the early morning hours of March 8 for an unrelated matter and was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence. On Monday, March 11, Sanchez was arrested and subsequently charged with second-degree murder for the death of Pedro Beltran Palomares. He was held in the Thurston County Jail on $750,000 bail.
