In the late afternoon of September 29, 2017, the body of 32-year-old Shaddie Graham, a Black/African American male from Spanaway, Washington, was discovered on a wooded trail near Guerin Park in Olympia. An investigation by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office determined that Graham had been fatally shot.
Within days, authorities identified a person of interest, Christopher M. Heeren, a 32-year-old from Olympia. Heeren was initially arrested on a probation violation on October 2, 2017.
As the homicide investigation progressed, detectives uncovered evidence believed to link Heeren to Graham's death. Investigators suspected the motive was a dispute over drugs, and that the weapon used was a gun Heeren had stolen.
Following the return of ballistics results from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, Heeren was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Graham's death. In addition to the murder charge, he faced several other charges, including first-degree burglary, unlawful possession of a firearm, and trafficking in stolen property. After a six-week trial, a jury found Christopher Heeren guilty of the murder of Shaddie Graham in May of 2019.
