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19-year-old Ashton Spencer, the man accused of shooting and killing 55-year-old Tobias Smith at his Kelso home near Wallace Elementary in August 2024, appeared in Cowlitz County Superior Court yesterday.
The Daily News reports that it has been revealed Spencer had pointed a gun at another man the day before the shooting, demanding his phone. That man was not injured. Prior to his death, Smith reportedly told police a similar story.
Smith said to officers that he did not know his attackers but said they asked for a man by a specific name. A witness also confirmed that the suspects asked Smith for a man by the same name.
The separate incident from the day prior reportedly happened in the same area where Smith was later shot—on the 1200 block of South Sixth Avenue. Spencer and two other men allegedly approached a man, asking if he was the person whose name had been mentioned to Smith. When the victim said he was not, Spencer reportedly pulled a gun and told him to empty his pockets and hand over his phone.
A third person who also lives in the area reported that the suspects came to her door that same day asking for the same individual.
Bullets and shell casings recovered from the scene of Smith’s murder were sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for DNA testing. The lab was able to link the evidence to Spencer. That led to his arrest on May 30 in San Diego by the U.S. Marshals Service. He was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail last Wednesday.
