No charges filed against Wapato man in fatal shooting

WAPATO, Wash.– A 31-year-old Wapato man who shot a man and wounded another man will not be facing charges at this time, according to Yakima County Prosecutor Joe Brusic.

Yakima County Prosecutor Joe Brusic says Jesse Villa shot and killed 27-year-old Tadd Blodgett and wounded 22-year-old Isaac Bobb on August 20.

Blodgett and Bobb are enrolled Yakima Nation tribal members, according to a police report.

According to a police report, Jesse Villa arrived home from work at about 3 a.m. to find his wife and three men outside at the 700 block of W. 7th St.

“They had come over earlier that evening and had been partying and hanging out,” Brusic says.

However, a small fight began after one of the men started pushing Villa’s wife, according to Brusic.

The prosecutor says Villa told them the men to leave, and when they wouldn’t, he went inside to get a gun.

When Villa went into his house, a family member was told him that his wife was being assaulted, says Brusic.

Reports say Villa grabbed a gun and went outside to find his wife on the ground with the men standing over her.

One of the men charged Villa and the other swung at him, according to Brusic.

Villa fired his gun and shot two men. Blodgett died at the scene and Bobb was taken to the hospital, according to a police report.

“After a full and fair consideration of all the facts and evidence known as of [Tuesday], it is my belief that the State of Washington would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the absence of self-defense and/or defense of others undertaken by Jesse Villa,” says Brusic.

Villa had a preliminary appearance in court on Friday and a filing decision had to be made. However, this doesn’t mean charges could not be filed in the future.

“In this case, though this is an extremely difficult decision, I have determined that more information must be obtained to arrive at a possible charge or charges,” says Brusic.