A second man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death Feb. 17 of a Renton man shot numerous times during a burglary of his Lake Desire home.
Ryan Daniel Erker, 34, of Gig Harbor was charged Friday with second-degree murder in the death Ryan Prince, 27, and with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Prince was shot to death when he came home at about 8 p.m. Feb. 17 as the house was being burglarized on East Lake Desire Drive.
Before the burglary, Erker compiled an intelligence report on one of Prince’s roommates, the owner of several medical-marijuana dispensaries, according to court documents. It was believed the dispensary owner kept cash in the house.
Erker was arrested on Thursday while being interviewed by a King County Sheriff’s Office detective at the Major Crimes Unit in Kent.
Erker is being held on $1 million in the King County Jail; his arraignment is 9 a.m. April 3 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Sheriff’s investigators have been looking for additional suspects in what’s described as a “brutal murder” since the arrest Feb. 22 of Steven M. Marshall of Tacoma.
Marshall and Erker are charged with the same crimes. Marshall pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Erker was interviewed as investigators developed a case against Marshall; detectives had spotted the two men talking on Feb. 22 in Tacoma.
Prosecutors write in charging documents that Erker helped plan the burglary that led to Prince’s murder by spending hours in the Lake Desire neighborhood, watching Prince’s home.
During several days, he watched as residents of the home came and went, to learn their habits and recognize their vehicles, according to prosecutors.
Erker made cell phones calls that used cell towers serving the Lake Desire area, according to prosecutors. Marshall also visited the Lake Desire area before Feb. 17, cell-phone records show.
On the night of the burglary, Erker’s job was to act as a lookout, according to prosecutors. Erker told investigators that three people were involved in the burglary, including Marshall.
Erker texted a friend on Feb. 24, telling him to search online using the phrase, “lake desire Renton,” to which the friend replied, “but u was there,” according to charging documents. Erker replied that he wasn’t at the house and told the friend to stop texting him on this phone because the police are going to “take it.”
Marshall also called Erker at about the time of the burglary and Prince’s death, according to charging documents.
Erker told investigators he was promised 10 percent of the take from the burglary.
Erker also lied to investigators, according to prosecutors, and tried to either conceal or destroy evidence, including the PT Cruiser used as a getaway vehicle. A friend provided a false alibi for him.
Prince had taken a photo of the PT Cruiser’s license plate that helped lead to Marshall. Erker told investigators that Marshall admitted to him that he and his crew then attacked and shot Prince.
Erker has a conviction for negligent driving, according to prosecutors.
