Suspect arrested in Mende homicide

Michael David Meier

by Herald Staff Writer & Joe Utter
| February 24, 2014 5:05 AM

MOSES LAKE - A Moses Lake teen is facing murder charges in the slaying of Brandon Michael Mende Sunday morning.

Michael David Meier, 17, was arrested Thursday morning at 425 North Grape Drive in Moses Lake on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to the sheriff's office.

Mende, 16, was shot and killed in the yard of a home in the 6000 block of Turnkey Road in Moses Lake following a party. Detectives reportedly received evidence that pointed to Meier as the alleged shooter.

Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones previously asked witnesses to the shooting to come forward with information, citing a lack of cooperation in the initial investigation of Sunday's shooting, and the investigation of the Jan. 20 drive-by shooting on Arlington Drive that left Mende with two gunshot wounds.

The sheriff's office has not determined if Meier, a Moses Lake High School student, is a suspect in the Jan. 20 shooting.

"I want to thank everyone who stepped forward with tips, and also all the witnesses who stepped up to give us the information we needed to make the arrest," Jones said. "The teamwork of sheriff's deputies, Moses Lake Police and the Marshals was a great force in this case. This is a great example of what can happen when we have citizen and law enforcement cooperation."

Meier was previously sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty in March 2013 to second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment stemming from a kidnapping two months previously, according to court records. Meier was charged as an accomplice in the incident where he and three others reportedly kidnapped a man after driving to an Othello home from Moses Lake and assaulting the victim before driving the victim to the Moses Lake Sand Dunes where he was able to escape.

Meier also has a previous conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm.