Warrant issued: Onalaska burglary suspect a no-show at her sentencing

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A no-bail bench warrant was issued this morning when 32-year-old Joanna McKenzie failed to show up for her sentencing.

McKenzie previously pleaded guilty to attempted burglary in connection with the night in April when an Onalaska property owner opened fire on her and her husband after he discovered them outside his house.

The Morton woman escaped uninjured but her husband Thomas McKenzie was fatally shot.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler asked her attorney if he tried calling her. J.O. Enbody said he did, the phone number was no good, and he left a message for her on her boyfriend’s phone.

Joanna McKenzie has been free on a $10,000 unsecured bond. She recently made a so-called Alford plea, not admitting guilt in the case.

Prosecutors planned to recommend she be treated as a first-time offender – because she has no felony criminal history – a situation that normally brings 30 days in jail, Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Warner said.

Because it was only an attempted crime and “given the circumstances of this case” Warner expected to ask she be sentenced to 15 days, he said.

Enbody said she’s made every other court date.

Ronald A. Brady, the man who shot at the McKenzies, made his first appearance in the same Chehalis courtroom yesterday afternoon, to face charges of first-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault.
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Read “Onalaska man accused in fatal shooting of suspected burglar goes before a judge” from earlier today by scrolling down.

Find more details about the charges against Joanna McKenzie by reading the story from Thursday July 15, 2010 “When is it OK to use deadly force in Lewis County?: Not so simple to answer, sheriff says” here

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3 Responses to “Warrant issued: Onalaska burglary suspect a no-show at her sentencing”

  1. George says:

    Records show:
    Bench warrant issued 10/13/2010.
    Bench warrant quashed 10/14/2010.

    I would have to agree… she made a mistake in the dates. I’ve done that before, too. Most people have…
    Further, 11/24/2010, ordered to serve 11 days. Therefore, she was sentenced, and served her time, paying her debt to society for this case.

    There is another case she is involved with at current, but I don’t believe it to be a part of the original case here, as she has already been charged and sentenced in that original case. A whopping 11 days for a felony (I don’t blame her for that… I blame the courts for not imposing a more punitive sentence, hence they trivialized whatever crime she was convicted of).

    The case of the guy being prosecuted for defending his property, I won’t even go there…. that’s a discussion for another time.

  2. VHamilton says:

    To Ridge,
    Let me inform you all of the circumstances here. Mrs Mckenzie did show for court. The next day. She mistakenly got her court date confused. She was not charged with that warrent, and was rescheduled, and showed for another day. So, dont be so quick to JUDGE when Non of You Know The Whole Truth. or Have Walked In Anothers Shoes. YOU DONT KNOW SHIT!

  3. Ridge says:

    This can only help Mr. Brady. It’s shows how untrustworthy she is, and that anything Joanna McKenzie says is a lie.