Man facing murder charges connected to the death of a member in his own gang

WALLA WALLA COUNTY, WASH. -- One man is facing murder charges for allegedly being involved in the death of a fellow gang member; several members left the victim's body near a river after he was shot, according to court documents.

Joey C. Barnes, 28, has been arrested on suspicion of second degree murder for the death of Arcan "AJ" Wilkinson.

According to court documents obtained by Action News, authorities say the murder is gang related.

They report that Wilkinson had his gun stolen from a rival gang member.

Documents say Wilkinson and members of his own gang went to North Shore Road on December 16, 2019.

They told the victim they intended to get the stolen gun back from the rival gang member, but in reality it was to beat the victim up for losing the gun to the other gang member.

After a fight between two members of the gang, a gun was pulled, eventually Wilkinson took off running and went five miles upstream.

A member of the same gang fired off multiple shots at Wilkinson, his fellow gang members then left his body at the river and took off in the car according to court documents.

Over the course of a few months, Barnes claimed to not know where the victim was, he allegedly picked up the victim's girlfriend from jail, claiming Wilkinson had left his keys in the door, and messaging the victim on Facebook, according to court documents.

Barnes allegedly provided different stories to people over the course of several months, including that Wilkinson moved to Oregon, stole his guns, and convinced the victim's sister that Wilkinson had been kidnapped by a rival gang and needed a ransom in order to get free, according to court documents.

Barnes allegedly used Wilkinson's Facebook page to message the victim's sister, and convinced her to not report him missing, authorities say Wilkinson was finally reported missing on December 28, 2019.

Barnes is being held on $1 million bond, according to the Walla Walla Prosecuting Attorney.