LYNNWOOD — Prosecutors have charged a Marysville man with first-degree murder in the April shooting death of a retired Lynnwood man, though the shooter has not been found.
On the afternoon of April 5, Carl Bridgmon was killed after being hit by stray bullets at Daleway Park. The 70-year-old was caught in the crossfire of a marijuana deal gone awry.
Two 18-year-olds told police they’d gone to the park that day to meet a man one of them knew as “Bubba,” according to charges filed Friday in Snohomish County Superior Court. One of them had previously bought weed from Bubba, but it had been over a year. They agreed to meet at Daleway Park to buy $35 worth.
Once the two arrived, Bubba reportedly told one of them via Snapchat to meet in a park bathroom. Once he got to the bathroom, the 18-year-old received another message from Bubba telling him to meet at Bubba’s car, a black Honda Accord with tinted windows.
He sat in the front passenger seat. Bubba was in the driver’s seat, another person was in the rear passenger seat. The driver and the buyer got in an argument about the marijuana, according to court documents. The driver and the passenger attacked him, the buyer told police.
The buyer yelled for his friend to come help him. The friend ran over and kicked the driver to get him to let go. The buyer was able to get away, according to the charges.
“Not here,” he reportedly heard the driver say. “Not here.”
The two teens ran away, but one of them lost their money and cell phone. The Honda driver and the passenger got out of the car. The passenger started firing at the teens with a compact rifle, according to court papers.
Bridgmon video-recorded the shooting as it happened. The video reportedly shows Bridgmon dropping his cell phone into his lap after being shot.
Police found a dozen 7.62 x 39mm shell casings in the parking lot, according to court documents. Bullets were recovered from Bridgmon’s vehicle. Another car was shot in the bumper. Yet another had bullet damage to its roof rack. A nearby residence had damage to its fence.
Days after the shooting, police received an anonymous tip alleging Leif Smith, 21, was the Honda’s driver. Detectives found the car was registered to his mother, and driver’s license photos of him appeared to match the person in Bridgmon’s video. The tipster also claimed the gun belonged to Smith.
Phone records obtained via search warrant showed Smith used Bubba as a display name on social media. Witnesses confirmed to police this was a longstanding nickname.
And those phone records also show Smith was communicating with family and friends in the “minutes, hours, and days” after the shooting, deputy prosecutor Corinne Klein wrote in the charges. He told friends not to discuss what happened. A U.S. Secret Service agent found the suspect had done a factory reset of his phone three days after the killing.
Witnesses told police Smith hid the Honda at a home in Arlington, claiming it needed some repairs, according to court papers. Police arrested him May 24 as he drove the Honda away from his Marysville home. In a subsequent search of the home, officers found clothing consistent with that seen on the driver in Bridgmon’s cellphone video. And in his closet, they reportedly found ammunition matching that found at Daleway Park after the shooting. At the time of the charges, police were awaiting forensic testing results — fingerprints and “biographical evidence” — for the Honda from the state crime lab.
Smith, who has no prior felony or misdemeanor convictions, is represented by Everett attorney Peter Mazzone. The suspect was held Tuesday at the Snohomish County Jail with bail set at $1 million.
“The Defendant arranged the drug deal, supplied the rifle, and brought the shooter to Daleway Park in his vehicle,” the deputy prosecutor wrote in the charges. “After the commission of the robbery, the Defendant drove himself and the shooter away from the scene and concealed his vehicle.”
In a statement, Bridgmon’s family noted he went to the park to sit and drink his coffee several times a week.
Meanwhile, the suspected shooter had not been publicly identified as of Tuesday, Lynnwood police Cmdr. Patrick Fagan said. Detectives continued to investigate.
Anyone with information on the shooting can contact detective Jacqueline Arnett at 425-670-5669.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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