A Naches man’s trial on charges he shot and killed his father is underway.
Randy Razey, 48, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father, Chan “Butch” Razey. Jury selection began Nov. 13 and the trial before Yakima County Superior Court Judge Jared Boswell is expected to last two weeks.
Friday, Butch Razey’s sister and son described getting calls from Randy Razey July 12, 2023, after he shot his father.
Robin Sue Simmons said her nephew only asked her “to come help us” and by the time she got to her brother’s house, George Razey pulled up and said Randy Razey called him and said that he had shot their father.
George Razey told police that he was at a barber’s shop when his brother called and said that he had shot their father. George Razey said it was not unusual for his brother to call him, particularly when he was drunk, telling stories about trips he claimed to have taken when in reality they were his father’s travelogues.
This time, “it was believable enough for me to say ‘let’s go home’ because of the urgency in his voice, but it was a slurred conversation,” George Razey said. “I said, ‘If you really did shoot dad, call 911. I’m on the way home.”
Simmons said she pushed past Randy Razey, who was standing in the doorway and found her brother on the floor of his workshop bleeding and called 911. Simmons said George Razey started performing CPR while she tried to stop the bleeding from the gunshot wound.
While Simmons and George Razey tried to save Butch Razey’s life, Randy Razey stood by the stairs leading to the apartment he lived in above the workshop saying, “I shot him! I shot him! I shot him!,” Simmons said. She told Randy to get away from them as they tended to Butch.
“I kept telling the (dispatcher) that you have to get someone in here, we need help,” Simmons said. But paramedics were not allowed to enter the scene until deputies declared the scene safe and removed Randy Razey.
George Razey wiped tears from his eyes as he described feeling his father’s ribs breaking as he performed CPR on him.
A month before the shooting, George Razey said his brother said in one of his drunken phone calls that he would kill his father if he were to yell at him again.
George Razey estimated that one out of 10 conversations he witnessed between his brother and his father were usually arguments, with the elder Razey complaining about the mess his son was making in the apartment or doing things such as running a barbecue grill for three days straight.
But he said his father never acted violently toward Randy Razey.
Randy Razey told investigators after the shooting that his father was upset with him that day for not washing dishes or vacuuming his apartment, according to a probable cause affidavit. Butch Razey, Razey said, hit him in the face and chest with a pistol, which he cocked and put against his head, and that is when Razey pulled his own pistol and shot him.
George Razey said he did see his brother, who was drunk at the time, pull a gun on a friend of his who was helping George Razey and his business partner fix a trailer.
Attorney discussion
During Friday’s court hearing, Randy Razey told Boswell that he can no longer trust his court-appointed attorney, Aaron Dalan. He said Dalan ignored his requests to provide him with redacted copies of evidence obtained in the discovery process, any potential evidence prosecutors have that could help his case and copies of all body camera footage and videos of interviews with witnesses and himself.
He also accused Dalan of not visiting with him to go over the case.
“I don’t want to be found guilty because my attorney has left me unprepared to defend myself,” Razey said outside the jury’s presence.
Dalan said that Razey misunderstands his role as a defendant, as well as Dalan’s role as his legal advocate.
“He believes he’s the attorney but doesn’t understand he is not the attorney but the client,” Dalan said.
He said he did not have the time to sit down with Razey to go over almost five hours of video, and giving Razey his own copies of the videos would be pointless since he has no ways to play them in the jail and giving Razey a thumb drive might be a breach of security rules.
Dalan said he’s already given Razey a copy of the probable cause affidavit that provides a summary of the state’s case.
“I believe I am prepared for the case and Mr. Razey’s concerns are not valid, and I’m prepared to move forward,” Dalan said.
Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Tyler Hauter said he did not have any evidence in his possession that could benefit Razey, and if he had it would have been turned over already.
Boswell found no merit in Razey’s arguments and assured Razey that Dalan, who Boswell faced in court when he was a prosecutor, is a highly competent lawyer, and that Razey needs to let Dalan do his job.
He agreed with Dalan that Razey appeared confused about what his role is in the trial.
“The closest (analogy) I can give to you is you’ve purchased a ticked on a plane. Mr. Dalan is the pilot,” Boswell said. “You don’t tell the pilot when to take off or how to fly the plane. You tell the pilot you want to go from point A to point B.”
