Pullman teen reportedly killed while playing with guns, “like Russian Roulette”

Matthew+McKetta%2C+left%2C+and+Keagan+Tennant+appeared+in+Latah+County+District+Court+on+Monday.

Matthew McKetta, left, and Keagan Tennant appeared in Latah County District Court on Monday.

CODY COTTIER, Evergreen reporter

Court documents state that the teenagers allegedly involved in killing an 18-year-old Pullman man last week had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana during a camping trip near Troy, Idaho, before the victim died of a gunshot wound.

Keagan Tennant, 17, of Pullman, and Matthew McKetta, 18, of Moscow, made their first appearance in Latah County District Court on Monday. Their preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, and both will remain in Latah County Jail on a $500,000 bail.

Both teens face numerous felony charges. Tennant is charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly killing Timothy Reeves while the two were playing with guns in Russian Roulette-style.

The three teens were camping on Nora Creek Road with two other people, identified in court documents as E.L., 17, and Z.W., 17. These two later reported the incident to police.

According to Z.W.’s statements, he awoke on July 17 as Tennant and Reeves were pointing guns at each other. He stated that Tennant was holding a 30.06 rifle, and Reeves a .38 caliber revolver.

Z.W. recalled hearing Reeves say to Tennant, “You feeling froggy n****r, jump n****r jump.” Before Reeves finished the last “jump,” Z.W. said, Tennant’s rifle went off and the round hit Reeves in the cheek. Reeves fell backward as blood poured from his face, Z.W. said.

As Z.W. began to walk away, he recalled, Tennant fired the rifle again, hitting a stump in front of Z.W. He reported yelling “Keagan stop, you just killed my brother, stop.”

Tennant fired again, Z.W. said, missing his head and hitting something above him. Z.W. reported that Tennant then said something along the lines of, “Everyone needs to die, no witnesses.” Tennant is charged with first-degree attempted murder for allegedly shooting at Z.W.

After this Tennant set the rifle down and began “wailing around on the ground, rocking back and forth.” Z.W. said he took the pistol that Reeves had been holding because he was afraid of what Tennant might do.

E.L. stated that she woke up during this commotion. Tennant went one way around a nearby pond to find McKetta, who was reportedly away from the campsite during the shooting, and E.L. and Z.W. went the other way to avoid being with Tennant.

According to their statements, E.L. and Z.W. then met up with McKetta and Tennant, who were riding a utility task vehicle (UTV). They all returned to the campsite, and McKetta and Tennant decided to move Reeves’s body.

Z.W. reported that they wrapped the body in a white tarp, loaded it into the back of the UTV, and drug it into the woods on the side of a private driveway.

Tennant and McKetta later allegedly stole a pizza delivery car at gunpoint in Moscow and fled to Curlew, a small town near the Canadian border where Tennant recently attended a Job Corps program. Authorities captured them there Friday and transported them to Latah County Jail on Tuesday.

Both teens also face charges of principal to failure to notify coroner or law enforcement of death; conspiracy to commit failure to notify coroner or law enforcement of death; principal to destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence; conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence; and principal to robbery.