Spokane death - Russell Evans

[maniaguy6]

Did anyone see that segment on Friday about the kid who was killed in Spokane, Washington in the 1980s? During the reenactment, they showed the kid (or the actor) in the hospital with bruise marks all over his face. The police said they he died as a result of a hit and run, although his parents think he was killed in a fight (with baseball bats, etc). I think the parents are right. All of those bruise marks suggest being beaten up. That's a spooky case. I hope it gets solved somehow. The poor guy had his whole life in front of him.

[JohnMill]

I'm trying to think of this case - It's an old episode right from the early 90s - It's not Chad Maurer who was locked in the trunk of a car in a garage because that was in Chicago. It isn't Jeremy Bright either who disappeared at the Coos County Fair in Oregon - Those were both similar cases where either the person disappeared or was later found and assumed suicide. I'm drawing a blank here though

Later.

[hottstuff25]

yea i was really hoping for an update in this case, since I had never seen it before. Its sad how it ended, and I think it did involve foul play. I don't really know if it had to do with the encounter about the girl earlier. Its kinda weird how a 13 year old would get killed over a girl. If he was a bit older, maybe i would consider it, but at this age, I can't really believe it. All in all, Im pretty sure this case involved foul play, but most likely had nothing to do with the earlier encounter with the other young boys they profiled. It was past 1 in the morning, so I mean **** happens at that time at night. He was probably just at the wrong place at the wrong time, as Robert Stack finalized at the end of the segment.

[dynoguy88]

What's most bizarre about this case is the fact that his shoe laces were seperated from his shoes - all of which were found 30 - 40 feet from where his body was laying. If he was hit by a car, I highly doubt the impact would actually cause the laces to seperate from the shoes.

He was probably killed for no reason - just the fact that this person/persons liked to kill people.

Strange thing though - When I was 13, I was never allowed to be out with friends at 1:00 in the morning. That kind of caught me by surprise but I guess all kids have different curfews.

[UMfan77]

His name was Russell Evans.

[combatkellie]

I have been looking for anyone who has any info on this case. My mom was actually on UM about this case. She found him and called the cops. I am trying to find a copy of the episode. Any ideas on how?

E-mail me combatkellie@hotmail.com

[jeeps]

Was this the one where the passersby and paramedics saw a boy looking down from the side of the hill?

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by combatkellie

I have been looking for anyone who has any info on this case. My mom was actually on UM about this case. She found him and called the cops. I am trying to find a copy of the episode. Any ideas on how?

E-mail me combatkellie@hotmail.com

If your mom was the one that found him, I'm sure she could tell you more of what she saw than anything we could find. But still, I have this segment on tape so I went back and looked at it to get the extra details for you. Here they are –

Spokane, Washington – At 1:05 a.m. on June 4, 1989, Sandy Ferris and a friend were driving home when they found 13 year old Russell Evans lying in the middle of the road. He appeared to have been hit by a car. When Ferris rushed over to Russell and asked him what had happened, he never answered her. Instead, he continued to shout, “Brian, help me!!!” Russell was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital at 1:30 a.m. and his parents were notified. Several hours later at 9:10 a.m., he died.

To this day, Spokane police still maintain that Russell died because of a random hit and run accident but a number of unanswered questions point to a more sinister scenario. Both of Russell’s parents believe that their son was murdered. Here are the events that happened and what took place afterwards.

On June 3rd, just a few hours before his death, Russell was hanging out at a local park with his friend Aaron and a group of other friends when two teenage boys approached Aaron. They started to get in a fight over Aaron’s girlfriend. Russell broke up the fight and told both of the boys to get lost. One of them shouted back that Russell better watch out because he was going to get some of his “homeboys” after him. The two teens then got back into their car and drove off. Russell and his friends eventually left as well.

Russell spent the remainder of the evening at a friend’s house. At midnight, he called his dad to tell him that he was coming home. He started walking down the street when he ran into another one of his friends, Sade. They made small talk for several minutes about what had happened at the park earlier before going their separate ways.

Police believe that around 12:30 a.m., Russell was hit by a hit and run driver, just two blocks from his home. Apparently, the impact was so hard that his shoes and shoelaces both separated from each other and flew off of his feet. It is estimated that his body flew around 75 feet before hitting the ground. Later, a Forensic Pathologist would state that Russell was hit in the back and that his injuries were in fact consistent with those of a hit and run victim. But Russell’s parents don’t buy that theory.

Russell’s shoes and shoelaces were found downhill from his body around 86 feet away. There was also 3 separate pools of blood that were found as far as 50 feet away from where is body was found. Stupidly, police reports never pinpointed the exact spot where the body was found. Sandy Ferris later took Russell’s parents to where she had found Russell. More confusion happened as they looked over the details of this case.

1. There was blood found on one of the shoelaces. If his body was struck by a car so hard that his shoes literally separated from his feet, how did the blood get on the shoe lace?

2. There was a never a long bumper shaped bruise found on his back. Instead there were several irregular patterns of bruises all over his back. If the bumper of the car struck his back like the police believe, there would have been a long bruise to match it.

3. If his body flew 75 feet through the air, there would have been massive scraping from where he hit the pavement. No such scraping was ever found, though.

Russell’s parents hired another Pathologist to investigate. He agreed with the initial ruling but concluded that Russell was in a fight just before he was killed. Russell’s parents agreed with that and came up with their own version of what happened. They believe he was attacked with a baseball bat or a 2 by 4 by several boys. Finger bruises to Russell’s face, nose and upper arms (as if he had been held down) would seem to coincide with that.

The two teens that started the fight at the park earlier cooperated with Police questions and even volunteered to take a polygraph test which they passed with flying colors.

At the crime scene, Sandy Ferris believes that Russell himself gave an important clue – yelling for Brian to come and help him. He yelled as if Brian was within ear distance like he was supposed to be there. After police arrived and Russell’s body was being placed in the ambulance, Sandy Ferris turned around and saw a boy in white shorts and a white t-shirt running away from the scene. When she walked over to a police officer to tell him about the boy, she was told to get out of the way and remain on the sidewalk. She believed that the boy was probably Brian.

Russell did in fact have a friend named Brian. When Russell’s father later asked Brian what he was wearing that night, Brian said he was wearing a white t-shirt and white shorts but that he was nowhere near the area where Russell was found. However, he later told police that he never even owned a white t-shirt or white shorts. Police came to the conclusion here that the boy was probably a curious stranger that happened upon the scene and was wondering what had happened.

Still, Brian’s name would surface again a short time later. When Russell’s mother arrived at the hospital, a nurse told her that a boy named “Brian” had recently called the hospital asking how Russell was doing. At this time, nobody else knew that Russell had been injured so how Brian knew to call the hospital was beyond them, unless he really knew more than he was saying.

In the end, the Evans’ believe that their son was killed because of a fight that got out of hand. But even if they are wrong, the fact remains that somebody is still responsible for Russell's death.

[combatkellie]

Hi, My name is Calley. My mother, Sandy Ferris, was the one that found Russell Evens. My freind Kellie was the one that found this site for me. I just got done reading your reply to her questioning about the spokane death. Growing up with my mom being on this show and living in Spokane for almost my whole life, I have heard lots of different ideas about what happened that night. My brother and I have had all sorts of friends there, friends that know people that know that truth about that night. We have heard that it is gang related and that the two guys that Russell got into a fight with ealier that night we in fact part of a gang. Russell's friend Brian, from what we heard, was part of this gang that killed Russell. There are people, Brian included, that know the real truth with what happend that night. At the time of the death, my brother was the same height as Russell. Our mom, Sandra Ferris, had my brother stand infront of a car; if Russell was hit by a hit and run driver his knees would have been broken and they weren't. So, we also believe that he was not killed by a hit and run driver but by a gang of Spokane.

My mother is no longer alive, she passed away in October of 2003. Till the day of her own death she was hunted of what happened that night. But she is in Hevean with Russell now, and she can rest at ease knowing the truth. Something she has wanted since that horrible night.

[dynoguy88]

combatkellie, I'm sorry to hear that your mother passed away. You should be proud that she was kind enough to wait with Russell until paramedics arrived and thoughtful enough to help his parents out with the case.

The gang theory seems like the most likely scenario. But I would have to wonder what the motive was. Would a gang of thugs kill somebody just because he broke up a fight? Unless Russell had some enemies that we didn't know of, what would be justified as killing him? I've never been in a gang so I don't know how their psycho warped little minds work.

That Brian kid knows what happened that night, but unless his conscience ever gets to him, the case remains unsolved. If it was gang related, the gang must be sitting pretty knowing that the police are completely convinced that this was a hit-and-run accident.

[Mijada]

I don't think that those guys meant to kill him. Russell Evans mother even stated that it was probably a fight that got out of hand. It's sad that this still hasn't been solved and the people responsible, whether it was a hit and run driver or a group of kids, have gotton away with it for the past 16 years. I agree with dynoguys earlier statement though. Why the heck was that kids parents letting him walk home by himself at 1 am instead of going to pick him up? He wasn't even out of Junior High yet. I understand that Russell looked older than 13 but it seemed to me that his parents gave him more freedom than a kid his age should have had.

[CanadianUMFan]

Originally Posted by combatkellie

Hi, My name is Calley. My mother, Sandy Ferris, was the one that found Russell Evens. My freind Kellie was the one that found this site for me. I just got done reading your reply to her questioning about the spokane death. Growing up with my mom being on this show and living in Spokane for almost my whole life, I have heard lots of different ideas about what happened that night. My brother and I have had all sorts of friends there, friends that know people that know that truth about that night. We have heard that it is gang related and that the two guys that Russell got into a fight with ealier that night we in fact part of a gang. Russell's friend Brian, from what we heard, was part of this gang that killed Russell. There are people, Brian included, that know the real truth with what happend that night. At the time of the death, my brother was the same height as Russell. Our mom, Sandra Ferris, had my brother stand infront of a car; if Russell was hit by a hit and run driver his knees would have been broken and they weren't. So, we also believe that he was not killed by a hit and run driver but by a gang of Spokane.

My mother is no longer alive, she passed away in October of 2003. Till the day of her own death she was hunted of what happened that night. But she is in Hevean with Russell now, and she can rest at ease knowing the truth. Something she has wanted since that horrible night.

I just saw this segment today and I am sorry that your mother (the person who found Russell) passed away. Obviously, Brian is the one who could break this case wide open. He is an adult now and one would hope that the guilt that he must feel would eventually get to him and get him to spill.

[hostedbyrobertstack]

the interesting thing, as stated by combatkellie, that I have never thought of, is the gang angle. I do remember now having friends who had moved here from Seattle and heard stories in general. I know spokane isn't seattle, but they are both in washington. I have heard that Seattle has a really bad gang problem, and they have different initiation rituals all the time, most stemming from urban legends(the headlight flashings, etc...). It could be possible that maybe the people who killed him weren't even in the gang, although I bet they were. Most teenagers that age want to be accepted, and in that area maybe being in a gang was the thing that made people cool, who knows. Anyways, I know it wasn't a hit and run. I wasn't allowed to be out til 1 am at that age, although, if it is a city like the one I grew up in, when you live there all your life and so has your family, they are a little more lenient about letting you rome the neighborhood afterhours.

[wiseguy182]

Originally Posted by hostedbyrobertstack

Most teenagers that age want to be accepted, and in that area maybe being in a gang was the thing that made people cool, who knows.

Well you're correct that all kids, and to a certain extent everyone, wants to be accepted. But that would suggest every kid in town is a member of the gang, which I find highly unlikely.

[Todd Mueller]

I bring up this old thread because I just rewatched this segment tonight. This is another case where I feel law enforcement didn't do justice in their investigation. How the hell do the shoe laces become separated from the shoes and they say that is part of being hit by a car? I'd like to see them recreate that one.

Originally Posted by hostedbyrobertstack

I know spokane isn't seattle, but they are both in washington. I have heard that Seattle has a really bad gang problem...

That is funny because I have a friend who grew up in Spokane. She said it had a ton of crime and many people there nicknamed it "Spo-Compton." I never realized it before, but watch reruns of COPS and you will realize how often they are in Spokane (they only go where they know there will be action). She said they had a lot of issues and a lot of crime when she was growing up, so the gang angle doesn't seem so far-fetched.

Makes you wonder if the cops didn't care and just mailed it in, were afraid of gang retaliation (far-fetched, but you never know), or if they thought a 13-year-old white kid wouldn't be involved in a gang fight.

One thing is for sure: this was no simple hit and run. That boy got beat up... bad.