A Clark County prosecutor says that alcohol consumption likely played a role in the fatal shooting of a man at a residence in Vancouver’s Hearthwood neighborhood early Sunday morning.
The owner of that residence, TJ Patrick Ferres, was in Superior Court on Monday to face an allegation of second-degree murder in the death of his friend, Ian Patrick McKay, 37, of Vancouver.
Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Robinson asked that Ferres, 55, be held in custody on $1 million bail.
“Can you lower it?” Ferres asked Judge Daniel Stahnke, who in turn set his bail at $750,000.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Vancouver police were dispatched shortly after 4 a.m. to a disturbance with a weapon at a residence in the 14900 block of Northeast Fifth Street. When officers arrived at the home, they found a man lying on the floor in the kitchen suffering from a gunshot wound to the side of his body. First responders with the Vancouver Fire Department arrived about 20 minutes later and pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Shooting victim identified
The Clark County medical examiner on Monday identified the deceased man as McKay, and confirmed he died of a gunshot wound to the torso.
Both Ferres and his girlfriend, Katherine Louise Farha Deal, 56, were taken to the Vancouver Police Department’s East Precinct to be interviewed. Ferres allegedly told detectives that he leveled a shotgun at his friend’s midsection and shot him one time. He then asked Deal to call 911, court records said.
Deal told detectives that Ferres came to her bedroom and asked her to call for help because he had shot his friend. She said that while she was on the phone with dispatchers, she saw Ferres kick the dying man in the head, the affidavit states.
The affidavit filed by prosecutors didn’t state a motive for the killing.
Ferres said Monday that he plans to hire his own attorney but was appointed one in the meantime. He will be arraigned Feb. 3.
