Man shot dead by Mead neighbor while reportedly retrieving belongings Monday

One man is dead and another in jail after a confrontation in Mead in the wee hours of Monday, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Cheyanne Humphrey, a 47-year-old felon from Mead, told law enforcement he was trying to prevent the burglary of a neighboring residence when he shot and killed an unnamed man who attacked him. Police say the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, may have been recently evicted from the residence and trying to retrieve belongings.

Humphrey was arrested on suspicion of illegal possession of a firearm, since he is a felon.

Sometime after midnight, he and an unnamed woman confronted two men who they believed were stealing things from a neighbor’s home.

The first man fled when confronted by the armed neighbors, who then turned their attention to a second man inside the residence.

The woman reportedly stepped up on some kind of ledge next to the window and began telling the man to leave.

Humphrey said the man hit him in the head with what Humphrey believed was a rock, to which Humphrey responded by firing a “warning shot.”

Humphrey said he told the man to leave, but instead the man allegedly began to hit the woman through the window, at which point Humphrey reportedly shot the man. Humphrey unloaded and set the gun on the ground when it was clear the man was no longer responsive, he added.

Only Humphrey was treated for injuries, according to the report.

“They still had personal belongings inside, which appears to be why they returned,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release of the people confronted.

It’s not immediately clear whether the person killed was in the building legally. Sheriff’s spokesperson Mark Gregory noted that deputies had to force entry through the door and that the suspects were passing items through the window.

“I think it’s fair to say (Humphrey and the woman) were under the assumption it was a burglary,” Gregory said.

Investigators recovered a semiautomatic pistol on the ground where Humphrey said he had placed it.

Detectives continue to investigate the incident, according to the release. Gregory noted they have not yet identified the other man accused of attempting to burglarize the building.