SPOKANE, Wash. — A man who was stabbed to death in downtown Spokane on Tuesday was arguing over $20 when he was attacked by a man with a machete, according to newly released court documents.
Andre Conway, 29, was arrested and booked into the Spokane County Jail for first-degree murder. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon. Court officials said Conway refused transport to court Wednesday. He is expected to make his first appearance in District Court Thursday.
According to an affidavit obtained by KREM, the victim, Lance Ogle, 35, was involved in an altercation with several people.
The altercation started when he met up with a man named Randy near the front of the 7-Eleven on North Division Street, documents said. KREM is not publishing Randy's last name because he has not been charged with a crime.
Other witnesses said Ogle accused Randy of stealing the $20 when Ogle was trying to buy methamphetamine. According to court documents, Randy told police Ogle tried to start a fight with him and he ran away with the victim’s money. Police saw Ogle chasing Randy, documents state.
Randy told an investigating officer that at one point, he "had obtained $20 that belonged to the victim and since the victim was being disrespectful to to some nearby females [Randy] kept the victim's $20."
Court documents said police later got surveillance video that showed at least five different people “aggressively approaching the victim in the parking lot area, near where the victim was eventually located.”
Another witness told police 15 to 20 other people had come into the parking lot from the House of Charity and started attacking Ogle, according to court documents. The witness said at one point, Ogle was blindsided by a punch that knocked him to the ground, court documents said. Then, the witness said the group started to punch and kick Ogle while he was on the ground, according to court documents.
Witnesses said they saw Ogle arguing with the suspect, Andre Conway, and a woman in the 7-Eleven parking lot when Conway pulled out what was described as a "large machete" and stab Ogle in the chest, documents said.
A witness told police he heard a woman's voice yell "something similar to 'Kill him! Kill him!'" Witnesses said Ogle fell to the ground and everyone else fled, documents said.
Witnesses told police Conway threw the machete under a car after leaving the 7-Eleven parking lot, according to court documents. Witnesses said the stabbing may have happened after the victim recorded the suspect with his cell phone.
“Andre had talked about how he had taken the victim’s cell phone after the victim had videotaped Andre and the other individuals prior to Andre striking the victim with his machete,” documents said.
Conway had removed a battery from the Ogle's cell phone, according to court documents.
When police arrived at the 7-Eleven parking lot, they found Ogle bleeding from what appeared to be a stab wound to the upper chest area, according to court documents. Ogle was pronounced dead around 3:20 a.m. The Spokane County Medical Examiner said Ogle died from a stab wound to the chest.
Conway was arrested at 12:45 p.m. that same day.