Court documents show the suspect in the deadly Wandermere Road shooting in Spokane was released from jail in April after a deadline was missed to file charges against him.
Prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to charge Jonathan Andersen, 31, with a crime before he was scheduled to be released from jail. The deadline, according to court documents, was April 17. Prosecutors said they charged him the next day.
Andersen is charged with murder, attempted murder and eluding police in connection with a drive-by shooting on Sunday, July 7. He is suspected of shooting and killing a 38-year-old woman, Misty Hirsch.
Anderson is in jail on a $1 million bond.
Court documents show if previous charges against him were filed, he would have remained in jail before the shooting, if he didn’t make bond.
Anderson was arrested in April on a Department of Corrections warrant and unlawful possession of a firearm, court documents show. He went to jail on a $50,000 bond but records show he was released without paying the bond.
Court documents said if the firearm charges weren’t filed before April 17 at 4:35 p.m., Anderson would be released without bond. There is no record of those charges being filed in time, which is why he was released from jail.
Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell explained the charges were not filed in time because prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence.
"Soon as we did, which was on the 18th of April, we filed the charge. An arraignment had previously been scheduled for April 15 and Mr. Anderson signed for it on April 23, and he failed to appear at the arraignment," Haskell said.
Court documents filed Thursday regarding the drive-by shooting described how police located Andersen to make and arrested on Monday.
The sheriff’s office released photos of the suspect vehicle to the public. Court documents said a passenger who was with Andersen at the time of the shooting told police the suspect was at her apartment.
Andersen is expected to make a first appearance in Superior Court for the murder and attempted murder charge at a later date.