YAKIMA — A man serving a life sentence for killing a Yakima woman in 2019 faces federal charges in a fatal attempted 2018 carjacking and the attempted murder of another man a day later.
Jordan Everett Stevens was in U.S. District Court in Yakima on Wednesday for a pretrial conference and motion hearing. Stevens was initially indicted in August 2023 in the attempted murder case. He is scheduled for trial March 31 on charges in a superseding indictment involving both cases that was filed in June.
Stevens faces charges of attempted carjacking resulting in death and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence in death of Larry Shaw, 52, of Yakima. Shaw was found shot to death on the morning of Oct. 5, 2018, at a truck scale house near Pumphouse Road and U.S. Highway 97 south of Toppenish.
That case was joined in the superseding indictment with an Oct. 6, 2018, case in which Stevens was charged with assault with intent to commit murder and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. In that case, Stevens is accused of shooting a man late that evening near the Toppenish Longhouse.
A witness who called 911 told investigators he heard five to six gunshots near the longhouse, according to court documents. The victim suffered a single gunshot wound to the right side of his body between his chest and abdomen. He was taken to the hospital by another witness, who told investigators she heard the victim and an unknown man arguing and that the unknown man accused the victim of “ripping him off,” court documents state.
The woman took the victim to the hospital, where he told authorities that he was shot by “Ruthless.” Yakama Nation Police Department officers know Stevens uses that name, according to the court information.
Stevens is serving a life sentence without parole in the shooting death of Alillia “Lala” Minthorn. She was last seen in Toppenish in early May 2019 and later reported missing. Her body was found May 29, 2019, in a remote location on Ahtanum Ridge north of Brownstown, where a witness had told investigators she was shot May 3.
A jury in June 2021 found Stevens guilty of first-degree murder and a firearms charge, and he was sentenced in February 2023 to life without parole. The murder charge carries a mandatory life-without-parole sentence, and the firearms charge has a mandatory 10-year sentence that runs consecutively to any other sentence.
Tim Castilleja, a witness in that case who was forced by federal authorities to testify, remains missing after the place where he was living, the Brownstown tavern known as Jack’s Place, was destroyed by fire on June 12, 2021. Authorities said at the time that potential human remains were found in the rubble and that next of kin had been notified about the discovery of potential human remains.
The trial, the sentencing and the aftermath received extensive publicity, and Stevens’ attorney in the 2018 cases, Troy Lee, said he has considered filing a motion for a change of venue.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chief Judge Stanley Bastian heard information in a motion to sever the counts in the June superseding indictment.
