In the cold of a late January night in Spokane, Washington, 31-year-old Brandon Bushy was making his way from a friend's house. Earlier on that day, January 24, 2017, he had spoken with his girlfriend, telling her he would be heading to her home soon. He never arrived. Instead, his body was discovered at about 7 a.m. on a snowy sidewalk in a residential neighborhood, lying in a large pool of blood.
He had been shot twice in his right side in what investigators determined was a drive-by shooting. Bushy was unarmed, and his body was partially frozen when it was found. A teenage girl who lived nearby later told police she had heard arguing outside her home that night, followed by sounds she believed were gunshots, though the incident was not reported to the police at the time.
The initial investigation was a mystery, but a breakthrough came when police found a neighbor's security camera footage. The video led them to search for a white Subaru Legacy, which they soon identified as being registered to Darrell T. Tucker, a 30-year-old convicted felon. Police located the vehicle, and on January 30th, arrested Tucker in connection with Bushy's death. The investigation uncovered a long-standing animosity between the two men, stemming from a 2008 incident in which Tucker was accused of raping a 14-year-old girl who was a close friend of Bushy's. Court documents indicated that Bushy had assaulted Tucker over the allegations years prior, creating a rift between them. Investigators alleged that Tucker found Bushy walking alone and shot him.
The case against Tucker grew as two other individuals were arrested for allegedly helping him after the murder. Christopher A. Burdick and his girlfriend, Heather McDaniel, were charged with rendering criminal assistance. Police believed Tucker had dumped the murder weapon, a semi-automatic pistol, behind a dumpster. According to court records, Tucker had told Burdick's girlfriend about an argument he had with someone from his past. She told investigators that Tucker said the person told him he "better use a gun on him or he would kill Tucker." Police believe McDaniel later retrieved the gun and gave it to Burdick, who then sold it for a half-gram of heroin and about $40 to $50.
Despite the arrests and the apparent motive, the legal proceedings took an unexpected turn. In May 2019, Darrell T. Tucker went on trial for first-degree murder. His defense attorneys argued that Tucker had loaned his car to Burdick, who they suggested was the actual killer. Burdick, who had accepted a plea deal for rendering criminal assistance, gave testimony that contradicted earlier statements he had made to the police. After deliberating, the jury found Darrell T. Tucker not guilty of first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The acquittal left the death of Brandon Bushy without a convicted killer, and many questions for his grieving family and friends remained unanswered.
