LAKEWOOD, Wash — A man was charged Tuesday in the deadly shooting of two people in a Lakewood apartment.
Ontario Lavell Pruitt, 30, is charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Pruitt pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Bail was set at $5 million, and the bail issue was reserved.
Pruitt is accused of shooting a man in his 70s and a man in his 50s early Monday morning.
Police arrived after nearby residents at the Wisteria Walk Apartments reported hearing multiple shots fired at about 2 a.m.
The two men were found dead on the floor of the apartment. The man in his 70s, who lived in the apartment, was shot six times in the stomach; the other was shot in the side of his head and possibly his back, according to probable cause documents.
A witness told police that he went to the apartment with Pruitt and a friend to discuss the details of a suspected overdose that happened in the unit on Sunday. Pruitt is the nephew of the person who died, and the witness told police Pruitt saw the person as a father figure.
Pruitt and the tenant were face-to-face when the witness saw the tenant fall backward. The witness told police he heard multiple gunshots and fled the apartment.
Based on ballistic evidence, investigators believe Pruitt pushed the tenant to the ground, shot the other man and then shot the tenant while he lay on the floor.
Pruitt called police later in the day and said he wanted to “end it” by turning himself in, according to probable cause documents. Pruitt told officers he was “going through some [stuff]" and “overreacted.”