Third Kennewick teen arrested in June Walla Walla murder case

The third and final teen charged with first-degree murder in connection to the June death of 24-year-old Miguel Perez Barragan in Walla Walla County has been arrested.

Eros E. Patterson, 16, of Kennewick, was arrested Friday, Dec. 16, by the Pasco Police Department. He is in custody at the Walla Walla County Juvenile Detention.

In court Monday, Dec. 19, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Morales said she expects to request a hearing to consider transferring all three teens to adult court.

Joel Poblano, 14, and Kenny S. Sanchez-Garcia, 16, both also of Kennewick, were arrested in November.

At the time of the alleged crime, which law enforcement thinks to be in late June 2022, Poblano was 13, while Patterson and Sanchez-Garcia were both 15.

Patterson's first appearance in Walla Walla Superior Court also was Monday. He, like his co-defendants, are being held without bail. Janelle Carman has been assigned to represent him.

Previously, Rebecca J. Lemons was assigned to represent Poblano, while Julie A. Carlson Straube was assigned to represent Sanchez Garcia.

All three teens are charged with first-degree murder, currently as minors. The maximum penalty is detainment until age 21. However, if they are charged as adults, the maximum penalty is life in prison.

Barragan’s body was found by Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office deputies July 5 on Kibler Road near U.S. 12, northeast of Walla Walla, according to court documents.

The body was in “an advanced stage of decomposition,” according to court documents, and had been stabbed nine times in the chest and multiple times in his hands and leg.

A person who knows one of the teens told Kennewick Police that he saw a video of the person he knew killing someone in Walla Walla County.

Police think the three teens killed Barragan about a week before his body was found.

The teens were involved in a crash in a vehicle connected to the victim early in the morning of June 29.

They told officers they hit an animal, which caused them to leave the roadway. A knife was found on Sanchez-Garcia, according to the arrest report.