Associated Press

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — Prosecutors in Benton County have charged an Oregon man with killing a Pasco co-worker whose body was one of three found near a cornfield in south-central Washington in August.

Francisco Miranda-Resendiz, 23, of Umatilla, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of David Perez-Saucedo, 22, the Tri-City Herald reported (http://is.gd/goHcEx).

Miranda-Resendiz had been charged in Oregon with attempted assault and other crimes. He has been held at the Umatilla County Jail since Aug. 10.

He was getting ready to post bail on those charges, and law enforcement officials feared he would flee the state, so they filed charges against him Friday, the Tri-City Herald reported.

Miranda-Resendiz must be extradited to Washington to face the murder charge.

On Aug. 9, a farmworker found the bodies of Perez-Saucedo, as well as two women: Abigail Torres, 23, who was pregnant, and Victoria Torres, 19. Miranda-Resendiz was not charged in the women's deaths. All three were from Pasco, and they had been shot to death.

Court documents filed in Benton County Superior Court show Miranda-Resendiz told his work supervisors that he shot Perez-Saucedo. The shootings may have been retaliation for a break-in at Miranda-Resendiz's apartment hours earlier.

Sheriff's investigators are looking for other persons of interest, including Miranda-Resendiz's father and brothers, who may have gone to Mexico shortly after the shootings, court documents said.

Miranda-Resendiz told another friend that someone else was responsible for the killings, court documents said.