Man Convicted In South Wenatchee Drive By Murder Gets 40 Years

One of the two men charged in a fatal drive-by shooting last year in south Wenatchee will serve 40-years in prison.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge Travis Brandt sentenced 26-year-old Andrew Francis Morrow to the term Wednesday after Morrow entered a plea deal two weeks ago.

The deal let Morrow avoid a 2nd Degree Murder sentence in the shooting death of 21-year-old David Lomeli-Vasquez on Methow Street in Wenatchee.

Morrow was given 480 months, which amounts to 40 years, for the lesser charge of vehicular homicide

He was also given 89 months, a little less than seven-and-a-half years, for drive by shooting and 14 months for fleeing from police.

All three sentences will be served concurrently. Morrow could have been given up to a life sentence under a second degree murder charge

He entered an In Re Barr Plea, which is based on a Washington Supreme Court decision allowing a defendant to plead guilty to a non-related, different and less serious offense in order to receive the benefit of a plea bargain.

Morrow and 24-year-old Benito Eduardo Licea were accused in the drive-by-shooting, which took place in April of 2022. Both were caught the next day in East Wenatchee. Vasquez was injured in the head during the shooting and died the next day.

Licea still faces trial in Vasquez’s death. Detectives do not think he pulled the trigger.

However, Licea has additional charges of assault and attempted murder against a corrections officer from earlier this year at Chelan County jail.

Corrections Deputy Jesus A. Olivera, 23, was the victim in that assault

He received minor injuries and returned to work but later died in a motorcycle accident.

Licea has a bail of $1 million bail.