54-year-old Spokane man sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting man five times in head in Suncrest

A Spokane man who shot 46-year-old Derek J. Johnson in the head five times last year in Suncrest, Washington, was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison.

Peter A. Allen, 54, pleaded guilty April 15 to second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for the deadly shooting, according to court documents. Judge Patrick Monasmith then handed down the 298-month sentence.

The charges stem from March 17, 2023, when witnesses say they drove up on a vehicle parked in the road on Blackstone Way near state Highway 291, documents say. They saw a man on the ground under the open front passenger door and another man standing over the top of him, punching and kicking him.

One of the witnesses stopped behind the car, got out and told the suspect to stop.

The suspect said something like, “He tried to rob me,” before getting into the vehicle and leaving, the witnesses said in documents. They described the attacker and vehicle to deputies.

Stevens County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene to find Johnson with multiple bullet wounds and unable to speak, according to a sheriff’s office news release. He died at the scene.

Johnson, who lived in Spokane, was identified by his fingerprints, court records show. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Johnson was shot in the head five times with what appeared to be a .22 caliber firearm.

Detectives learned Allen was arrested four days after the shooting at Northern Quest Resort & Casino on an unrelated Spokane County warrant and booked into the Spokane County Jail. His booking photo matched the description of the suspect, documents say.

The sheriff’s office determined Allen purchased a Toyota Sienna from an area car dealer two days after the homicide and traded in the Honda Accord he used to flee the scene to the car dealer. Detectives found blood in the inside of the Honda.

Allen told detectives in a Spokane County Jail interview that he picked up Johnson the afternoon of March 17 in downtown Spokane to give him a ride as part of a private taxi service. He had given Johnson a ride a few times prior to that date.

Allen said Johnson wanted to go to Arby’s. Once there, he said Johnson told him “to give him all his money or else,” documents say.

That upset Allen, and he told Johnson something akin to, “you (angered) the wrong person on the wrong day,” Allen told detectives.

He said he then drove Johnson to Blackstone Way, where the two got into an altercation. Allen said he “just lost it” and grabbed a .22 caliber pistol and shot Johnson at least twice, according to documents. He then pulled Johnson out of the Honda.

Allen said he thinks he remembers punching Johnson once outside until a vehicle pulled up behind them. He then got into the Honda and drove to Spokane, leaving Johnson on the ground.

Allen told detectives he cleaned out his car and threw Johnson’s backpack into a dumpster at the Liberty Motel in Spokane where Allen was staying. He put the pistol behind the TV in his room.

He said he needed to clean his car, so he drove to a couple of car washes where he threw away the empty shell casings into one of the trash cans. He tried to clean the blood out of his car. He said he traded the Honda to the car dealer for the Toyota he drove to the casino.

Detectives seized a .22 caliber revolver pistol from Allen’s motel room.

Allen has a substance use disorder that contributed to the crimes, documents say. Allen, a multiple-time felon, will serve three years of community custody when he’s released from prison.