Oak Harbor teen named ‘person of interest’ in homicide

Police have named a person of interest in the Aug. 30 shooting death of Ericolis “Eric” Kelley.

Oak Harbor police have named a person of interest in the Aug. 30 shooting death of Ericolis “Eric” Kelley, according to court documents.

Kelley, a 15-year-old Oak Harbor High School student, was a passenger in an erratically driven vehicle that police pulled over just after 1 p.m. in Oak Harbor. The driver told police that he was taking Kelley to the hospital from the location where the shooting took place. Kelley later succumbed to the wound at WhidbeyHealth Medical Center.

A Gofundme.com account was started to raise money for Kelley’s family members for the many financial burdens they now face. The account can be found at gofundme.com/f/swm9x-eric-kelly.

A document filed in Island County Juvenile Court last week names a fellow 15-year-old Oak Harbor High School student as a “person of interest” in the death, which police consider a homicide. The News-Times is not naming the juvenile suspect because he has not been charged in connection with the homicide.

On Sept. 7, Oak Harbor police officers went to the high school to execute a search warrant by seizing the boy’s cell phone. The boy stepped out of the classroom into the hallway, but then became uncooperative, the police report on the incident states.

The boy took out his cell phone and began to manipulate it, making the officers concerned that he was trying to “wipe” the contents, the report states. The officers told him that they had a warrant for the phone, but he turned around to walk away, according to the report.

The student called his mother on the phone, yelled at the officers and tried to get around them in the hallway, the report states. He tried to reach into his bag, which alarmed officers, and then resisted the officers as they tried to take him to the ground and handcuff him, which the officers eventually accomplished, the report states. The student then wrapped his leg around a detective’s leg to try to trip her and spit on an officer, according to the police.

The report states that the boy’s mother showed up at the school and was disorderly.

The high school had to go into “lock out” temporarily because of the incident, according to the report.

The boy was arrested and appeared in Island County Juvenile Court on Sept. 8. The judge found probable cause existed to believe he committed the crimes of assault in the third degree of a law enforcement officer, obstructing a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. The judge set his bail at $500.