In the late hours of a March evening in 2018, a simmering domestic conflict in north Spokane erupted into deadly violence, claiming the life of 33-year-old Michael L. Shackelford. On March 1st, Shackelford had gone to an apartment on East Wedgewood Avenue with the intention of seeing his young child. This visit, however, would be his last. At the apartment was his ex-girlfriend, Guadalupe Cloud, and her current boyfriend, 42-year-old Dumont P. Whitt.
Tensions had been escalating between the two men, rooted in allegations of a prior assault by Shackelford against Cloud and subsequent threats exchanged between him and Whitt.
That night, a friend named Keman Rhone dropped Shackelford off at the apartment complex. Moments later, the sound of gunshots pierced the night. Rhone discovered Shackelford lying on the ground, having been shot multiple times. When police arrived around 11:30 p.m., they found Rhone and Cloud attempting to carry the gravely wounded Shackelford, who had been shot twice in the chest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on Dumont P. Whitt as the shooter. After fleeing the scene, Whitt was located by authorities a short time later. As police approached, he emerged from a yard with his hands up, reportedly stating, "I should have called the cops." Whitt admitted to shooting Shackelford moments after opening the apartment door. He claimed that a week prior, Shackelford had threatened to kill him after Whitt confronted him about the alleged assault on Cloud. In response to these threats, Whitt, a convicted felon who was legally barred from owning a firearm, had illegally obtained a Glock. 40 for protection.
Whitt told investigators that several factors led him to arm himself when he answered the door that night: the late hour, the fact that the person was wearing a hood, and the recent threats he had received. Following the shooting, a juvenile witness told police that Whitt had given her the gun inside a sock and instructed her to hide it in a dumpster, where it was later recovered by law enforcement. Dumont P. Whitt was arrested and subsequently charged with second-degree murder, with his bail set at $750,000. The tragic incident left behind Shackelford's two children and a community to grapple with the violent outcome of a deeply personal dispute.
