Jury acquits Navarro in Union Gap homicide

Jonathan Edgar Navarro has been acquitted on all charges in a 2021 shooting at Valley Mall that left one man dead.

Jurors returned their verdict Tuesday afternoon, halfway into the fourth day of jury deliberations, finding him not guilty on counts of first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree manslaughter, and five counts of second-degree assault.

The second-degree assault charges were for five members of a family who were in a vehicle that was hit by a bullet fired by Navarro.

Another of the 14 shots Navarro fired struck and killed Jose Rivera De La Cruz, 23, who was waiting for a ride near the mall.

Jurors are expected to further deliberate on whether Navarro was acting in self-defense when he fired 14 shots at a Mercedes that was speeding away from him at the Union Gap shopping center Aug. 21.

Navarro testified that he had been taunted by another man in the mall and later in the parking lot, where the man brandished a gun and made threats to kill him. Navarro said De La Cruz’s death was an accident.