Man accused of killing detective ordered held without bail

VANCOUVER — A man accused of fatally shooting a Clark County sheriff’s detective in Vancouver, Washington, has been ordered held without bail.

Guillermo Raya Leon, 26, made his first appearance in county court Thursday on suspicion of aggravated murder in the death of detective Jeremy Brown, and possession of a stolen gun, the Oregonian reported. A phone message for his attorney seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.

Authorities arrested Raya Leon Sunday in Salem, Oregon, after police say he fled from the Friday shooting of Brown, who was working undercover at an apartment complex in Vancouver.

Raya Leon is accused of walking up to Brown’s parked Jeep, confronting Brown and shooting him as he sat in the driver’s seat. Brown was doing surveillance on Raya Leon, Raya Leon’s brother Abran Raya Leon and Misty Raya, who is married to Abran Raya Leon, court documents said.

Other officers also doing surveillance weren’t aware Brown had been shot, according to court records. They heard gunshots and saw a car they had been tracking peel out of the parking lot, according to the documents. They followed, and tried but couldn’t reach Brown.

Residents found Brown and called 911. Brown, a 15-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office and a member of a regional drug task force, died Friday night at a Vancouver hospital.

Clark County officers were conducting surveillance on the trio as part of an investigation into the June burglary of a storage unit and theft of over two dozen guns, ballistic vests, tools, tires and watches.

After the shooting, Misty Raya, Abran Raya Leon and Guillermo Raya Leon fled the scene and crashed their car near Interstate 205 in Clark County, documents said. Police found Abran Raya Leon and Misty Raya in a backyard early Saturday.

The revolver that Guillermo Raya Leon is accused of firing at Brown was among the guns stolen from the storage unit, according to court documents.

Abran Raya Leon was facing federal charges possessing counterfeit postal service keys and stolen mail in Oregon at the time of the Clark County shooting. He was arrested July 15 and placed on home detention with a GPS ankle monitor and ordered not to have contact with his wife, described in court papers as a co-defendant in the federal case.

He cut the monitor three days later and fled Oregon, Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire Fay told a federal magistrate judge earlier this week when Abran Raya Leon was returned to federal court in Portland.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo on Tuesday ordered Abran Raya Leon to remain held.

Clark County on Tuesday issued a warrant for Abran Raya Leon’s arrest, accusing him of “rendering criminal assistance in the first degree,” in the shooting, according to court records.

Clark County last week issued a warrant to arrest Misty Raya in connection with the storage unit burglary and gun theft. She faces burglary, identity theft, theft of a firearm, theft and unlawful possession of a firearm charges. She made a brief appearance Monday in Clark County Superior Court. Additional charges are expected to be filed against her in connection with Brown’s killing, a Clark County prosecutor said.

It wasn’t immediately known if Misty Raya and Abran Raya Leon have lawyers to comment on their behalf.