Bail set for Royal man charged with murder

ROYAL CITY – Bail has been set at $1 million for a Royal City man who allegedly shot and killed a man and injured another in an incident at a Royal City business on Nov. 20.

Grant County prosecutors charged Eduardo Ibarra-Valencia, 30, of Royal City with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder in Grant County Superior Court.

Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell followed Deputy Prosecutor Edward Owens’ recommendation and set Ibarra-Valencia’s bail at $1 million. Ibarra-Valencia’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 1.

Ibarra-Valencia allegedly shot and killed Joel Rodriguez, 49, of Quincy, and shot and injured a 55-year-old man from Soap Lake at Callahan Manufacturing. Rodriguez died at the scene, while the other victim was airlifted via MedStar helicopter to a local hospital for treatment.

After the shooting, police records show, Ibarra-Valencia was found at his home in the 300 block of Hemlock Avenue NW in Royal City. Royal City Police Chief Darin Smith drove Ibarra-Valencia’s house and saw him outside, the Sheriff’s office said.

Ibarra-Valencia went inside and called MACC Dispatch, the GCSO said. He was taken into custody and told police a gun was in his coat, which was inside the house. The coat and a semi-automatic .40 caliber pistol were found and taken as evidence.

An Ibarra-Valencia co-worker, who was in Callahan Manufacturing at the time of the shooting, said he did not see or hear the shooting. He said he spoke to Ibarra-Valencia inside the shop after the shooting and told him he would see him later without knowing that the shooting occurred.

The co-worker told a Grant County Sheriff’s Office detective that Ibarra-Valencia had showed him a .40 caliber handgun eight days earlier and said Ibarra-Valencia had the gun for protection.

Ibarra-Valencia’s girlfriend told police he has been dealing with depression for as long as she has known him. She said Ibarra-Valencia “regularly” acts paranoid and thinks people are out to get him and or kill him.

The girlfriend said Ibarra-Valencia told her he was having trouble at work with his coworkers, but he didn’t tell her with whom he was having trouble, according to police records.

Ibarra-Valencia’s girlfriend said she found a black and silver handgun in her room about a month and a half ago. She aid he told her the gun was for “self-protection.” She told police she found the gun the day before the shooting and hid it from Ibarra-Valencia.

Ibarra-Valencia allegedly woke his girlfriend up at 4 a.m. on the day of the shooting asking for the gun, and he later found it. She said that, after the shooting, Ibarra-Valencia came running into their house and told her to call 911 “because he had just shot and killed someone,” according to police records.

The 55-year-old victim from Soap Lake told police Ibarra-Valencia was walking around Callahan Manufacturing “acting nervous” on the day of the shooting and went up to Rodriguez and shot him with a semi-automatic handgun. The victim said he started running and Ibarra-Valencia shot him three times, twice in the back and once in the right arm.

The victim said he has known Ibarra-Valencia and worked around him at Callahan Manufacturing for six years and said he is 100 percent certain Ibarra-Valencia shot him and Rodriguez.