On a summer evening in Auburn, Washington, a dispute over a set of tools escalated into a fatal encounter for James Robert Smith. The 26-year-old man, a proud member of the Muckleshoot tribe, was working on bicycles with a friend near Fenster Park on July 18, 2016, when he was confronted by Travis Pendley. Pendley, who had never met Smith before that day, accused Smith of having his tools, leading to a heated argument.
The verbal altercation quickly turned violent. Pendley, armed with a s
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