SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Two suspects are facing murder charges after a transient man was found dead at a homeless encampment in Mead on the Fourth of July.
The 41-year-old man was found dead in a tent in the woods along East Farwell Road near Northwood Middle School, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
A man called authorities to the area at 10:40 p.m. on Saturday, saying he discovered his friend had died. He waited at the roadway and walked deputies and fire personnel to the location, according to the sheriff's office.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. It was determined through the investigation that the man died from blunt force trauma following a fight/theft, the sheriff's office said.
The first suspect arrested in connection to the death was 37-year-old Robert Tolliver, authorities said. He was found near a different homeless encampment on North Newport Highway near East Greenbluff Road.
Tolliver was taken to the Spokane County Jail and charged with first-degree murder. He is being held on $500,000 bond, according to the Spokane County Jail inmate roster.
Major Crimes detectives later identified a second suspect as 22-year-old Pierre D. Rhodes, according to SCSO Corporal Mark Gregory.
Rhodes was released from jail on bond following a June 2020 incident where he was suspected of hitting a woman over the head with a metal chair and charged with second-degree assault, Gregory said. He is a transient and six-time convicted felon.
According to Gregory, Rhodes was found at a hotel on Monday, July 6, by members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail for first-degree murder after declining to make a statement or answer questions.
Rhodes' bond was set at $1 million for the first-degree murder charge. He is also being held on an unrelated second-degree assault charge for which his bond is set at $75,000.
Detectives believe they have identified and arrest all suspects involved in the murder, Gregory said. But the investigation remains active and additional charges are possible.
The medical examiner’s office will release the name of the victim at a later time.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is asked to call Crime Check at 509-456-2233, reference #10086228.
