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Othello women arrested in Royal City shooting

CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 8 months AGO

Grant County Sheriff's Office/courtesy photo - Law enforcement vehicles guard the Ford Explorer where Arturo Sosa was shot and killed and Jose Rafael Cano Barrientos was shot and injured along state Route 26 near Royal City Dec. 9, 2016.

by CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE & Columbia Basin Herald
Staff Writer | April 6, 2018 10:18 AM

EPHRATA — Two Othello women have been arrested in connection with a Royal City murder in December, 2016.

Eustolia Campuzano, 27, and Paula Rodriguez Cuevas, 29, were arrested last week and charged with assault in connection with a Dec. 9, 2016, shooting on S.R. 26 near Royal City that killed 28-year-old Arturo Sosa and critically injured 33-year-old Jose Rafael Cano Barrientos.

Two of the men involved in the killing, Fernando Marcos Gutierrez and Julio Albarran Varona, are currently in jail in connection with the Dec. 22, 2016, murder of Jill Sundberg near George.

Both Campuzano and Cuevas were arrested in Othello by Grant County Sheriff’s detectives, said Grant County Sheriff’s spokesman Kyle Foreman.

According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Campuzano — who was the victim Sosa’s ex-girlfriend — complained to Cuevas that something should be done about Sosa’s abusive behavior, with Campuzano saying “she would like to give Sosa a beating so he couldn’t get involved with other women.”

Cuevas introduced Campuzano to three men, including Albarran and Gutierrez, who showed up drunk and armed to Cuevas’ home the night of Dec. 8.

They then followed the victim, Sosa, as he drove to work from Othello to Royal City early the next morning, flashing their headlights as a signal to him to pull over.

“Gutierrez and Varona, allegedly armed with rifles and handgun, got out of the Yukon and confronted Sosa and Barrientos. Sosa and Barrientos were then forced back into Sosa’s Explorer,” according to a statement from the GCSO. “During the drive, a struggle broke out in Sosa’s car. Barrientos was shot in the upper chest and injured and Sosa was shot in the head and killed.”

Gutierrez and Varona later threatened to kill Campuzano and Cuevas if they spoke to anyone about the shooting.

Foreman said GCSO detectives are continuing to investigate. The third man involved in the shooting has not been identified, and detectives do not know if this killing is in any way related to the Sundberg murder.

“Sometimes it takes people a while to decide they want to talk,” Foreman said.

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