TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Lakewood man who was accused of supplying the gun that killed his nephew’s 13-year-old friend.
The News Tribune reports that (https://bit.ly/2foqdrL) Pierce County prosecutors could not prove the gun came from Gastelum.
The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they can’t be filed again.
Gastelum’s friend, 17-year-old Adonis Brown, was sentenced earlier this year to nearly eight years in prison in the shooting of his friend, 13-year-old Alexander Demello.
Demello was shot last year while walking with Brown in the woods at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and died days later.
Brown told investigators the shooting was accidental but was charged with manslaughter.
Gastelum was originally charged with delivery of a firearm to a non-eligible person.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.