Scott acquitted of murder
By Dan Thesman on Friday, July 15th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – A murder trial which began last week ended today (Friday) with a jury reaching a verdict of not guilty on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree assault against Christian Wayne Scott, 28, of Walla Walla. The charges were filed in connection to the Dec. 16, 2019, death of Arcane “AJ” Wilkinson, 22, of College Place. Scott was, however, convicted of witness tampering that occurred on Feb. 22, 2020.
During the trial, Scott testified he was among several others at the scene near Wallula Junction where Wilkinson was shot, but that he didn’t know who fired the shots. Scott said the shooting occurred after a fight between Wilkinson and Quentin N. Hunter, one of the men present at the scene. The fight was allegedly over a gun Wilkinson had lost.
According to Scott, during the fight Hunter yelled that Wilkinson had bitten him. Moments later, Scott said he heard what sounded like someone falling into the Walla Walla River, followed by three gunshots.
Wilkinson’s body was found in the Walla Walla River near Wallula Junction on Jan. 29, 2020. Scott was arrested on a homicide warrant on Dec. 21, 2020.
Hunter, Joey C. Barnes and Billy J. Sargent were all originally charged with second-degree murder, but had those charges dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to rendering criminal assistance and agreeing to testify against Scott.
