The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - On Monday, Waitsburg resident Gabriel "Gabe" Hofer made his first appearance in Walla Walla County Superior Court in response to assault charges filed against him by the Walla Walla Prosecutors' Office in late November. Hofer is accused of assaulting Richard "Rikki" W. Perez, who he found with his sister, Mariah, when she died of a drug overdose last January. Perez was Mariah's ex-boyfriend and had been released from jail days before the overdose.

According to a probable cause report filed by City of Walla Walla police detective Mike Boettcher, the Walla Walla County Sheriff's O...