Brothers Face Murder Trial Together in Pasco Slaying

TRI-CITIES  (AP) — Two half-brothers will face trial together in the shooting death of a 27-year-old man who one of them got into an altercation with at a southern Washington nightclub.

The Tri-City Herald reports Simeon Howard and Nathaniel Thompson are both charged with murder. Their attorneys said Tuesday that they didn't object to the prosecution's request that the two cases be joined for trial.

Court documents say Thompson got into an argument with Thomas Contreras De Leon inside a Richland nightclub Dec. 29 and both men agreed to move the fight near De Leon's Pasco neighborhood.

Prosecutors allege Thompson and his half-brother showed up to the meeting to find DeLeon and DeLeon's two friends.

They say Howard pulled out a gun and opened fire, striking De Leon, who later died at a hospital.