3 men charged in Tacoma drive-by slaying

Pierce County prosecutors are throwing the book at three men allegedly involved in the shooting death of a woman on the front porch of her Tacoma home last week.

One man is in custody but police are still hunting for two others — the driver of a gold sedan and his passenger, the alleged gunman.

Prosecutors Monday charged Manuel Castillo, 19, Olujimi Blakeney, 25, and Herman Jackson, 28, with first-degree murder and drive-by shooting.

Castillo is being held on $1 million bail, according to jail records. The other two men have previously served prison time on drugs and weapons convictions.

Lisa Melancon, a bystander, was not a target of the shooter, said Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. While first-degree murder charges are usually associated with a premeditated killing, state law also includes a provision in cases of "extreme indifference to human life," Lindquist pointed out.

"That's specifically for when someone shoots a gun into a crowd of people," Lindquist said. "Shooting a gun like that shows extreme indifference."

Melancon, 40, a code-enforcement officer for the city of Tacoma, was shot in the head and killed at 11:30 p.m. July 22 after stepping out onto her front porch. A dispute had erupted outside and, according to witnesses, her husband had tried to break it up. Melancon is remembered by friends and family as a generous and gregarious woman.

According to Lindquist, a dispute between the Melancons' next-door neighbor and the defendants began when one of the defendants believed his girlfriend had been insulted.

"The problem is when people bring guns to what was supposed to be a fist fight," Lindquist said.

According to charging documents, the neighbor had been involved in an angry text-message dialogue with Castillo's girlfriend. Castillo decided he wanted to fight the neighbor, Jordan Kudla, according to charging papers. Arrangements were made to meet at Kudla's house.

Castillo drove to the house with Blakeney and Jackson, prosecutors allege, parking across the street. A fight then broke out in the street between Castillo and Kudla, according to prosecutors.

At some point during the fight, Kudla's mother came out of the house with a baseball bat, and unsuccessfully tried to break up the fight, according to charging papers.

The mom was confronted by Blakeney, who had a gun, and Blakeney fired the gun into the air, charging papers say.

The fight broke up, and Castillo got back into the car with the other two men, according to prosecutors. Blakeney got into the front passenger seat.

Witnesses report that, as the car drove away, the person in the front passenger seat pointed the gun out the window and fired two or more shots, at least one of them back toward the group of people gathered on the Melancon porch, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said detectives spoke with Castillo and arrested him over the weekend.

Castillo confirmed the general pattern of events and also told detectives that Kudla showed up to the fight carrying a short rifle and a baseball bat, prosecutors say, but that he'd disarmed himself and fought only with his fists.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times staff reporter Sara Jean Green and news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.