In the early morning hours of November 28, 2018, the quiet of Royal City, Washington, was broken by a family tragedy. Jesus Torres Flores, a 58-year-old Hispanic man, was found deceased in a vehicle parked in the driveway of his own home on Juniper Circle. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head, an act of violence that authorities would soon learn had been committed by a member of his own family.
The preceding hours had been fraught with tension.
Torres Flores's 21-year-old son, Jonathan Torres, had been feeling ill, complaining that he felt like he was going to die. His parents, Jesus and his wife, had driven him to a hospital in the nearby town of Othello. After leaving the hospital, as his mother drove them back towards Royal City, an inexplicable and horrific event unfolded. Seated in the back of the car, directly behind his mother, Jonathan allegedly raised a gun and shot his father, who was in the front passenger seat, in the head. The incident occurred as they were driving somewhere in the vicinity of the O'Sullivan Reservoir.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Jonathan's mother drove the car back to their family home and 911 was called. When emergency responders arrived at the scene around 1:30 a.m., they discovered Jesus Torres Flores's body inside the vehicle. Jonathan Torres was located shortly thereafter in a parking lot in Royal City and taken into custody. His arrest was not without incident, as officers had to use a stun gun on him after he reportedly grabbed a rifle that was slung around a deputy's body.
The investigation revealed that Jonathan Torres was already wanted by law enforcement. He and his brother had been identified as being involved in a shooting in Royal City just two weeks prior, on November 14, which had left another man injured. While his brother had turned himself in, Jonathan had been evading authorities. Initially charged with murder, Jonathan Torres later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. It was determined that he had been suffering from methamphetamine-induced psychosis at the time he killed his father. He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime.
