Two men accused of being accomplices in a fatal shooting earlier this month in the VanMall neighborhood pleaded not guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder charges.
Shawn Fortner, 19, of Bend, Ore., and Jonathan Hensey, 21, of East Wenatchee entered their pleas in front of Clark County Superior Court Judge David Gregerson. They’re accused of participating in the Feb. 4 homicide of Craig Moritz, 21, of Vancouver. Moritz’ body was found in a field in the 7700 block of Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive.
Fortner and Hensey remain in Clark County Jail on $750,000 and $500,000 bail, respectively. Gregerson on Wednesday scheduled their trial for Sept. 8.
About a dozen family members of Fortner and Hensey sat in the courtroom’s public gallery during Wednesday’s hearing. Following his not guilty plea, Fortner winked at them as he was escorted out of the courtroom. The family members declined to comment to reporters after the hearing.
The fatal shooting was the result of “a drug deal gone bad,” Clark County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu said.
According to a court affidavit, Moritz and his friend, Aaron Smith, went to Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive to sell Fortner some marijuana. Fortner and Hensey picked up Moritz and Smith in a minivan and drove them to a parking lot in the same block.
In the parking lot, a masked man emerged from the back of the minivan and held Moritz and Smith at gunpoint, the affidavit says. Smith told police that the masked man threatened to shoot them and demanded that they hand over all of their belongings.
Smith and Moritz were attempting to flee when the masked man shot Moritz in the back, killing him, according to the affidavit. Fortner later admitted to police that he, Hensey and the third man had met Moritz and Smith to rob them of their drugs, the affidavit says.
The alleged masked man, Zacheriah A. Douglas, 22, is being held in jail in Hillsboro, Ore., where he is fighting extradition to Clark County on first-degree murder charges.
