FERNDALE, Wash. — A 57-year-old man is being held without bail in Whatcom County Jail after he was arrested by Ferndale Police and faces a charge in Whatcom County Superior Court of 1st-degree manslaughter by recklessly causing death.
A national extraditable arrest warrant was issued for Lester Dwight Payton, Sr., formerly of Kent, Washington, on June 17, 2025, following an investigation into an assault that occurred October 13, 2024, in Ferndale.
According to an affidavit of probable cause dated January 7, 2025, filed with the court on June 16, 2025, Payton was an employee doing the tear down after a cat show in Ferndale about 6am on October 13, 2024. The 51-year-old owner of the company and another employee were working with him. An argument ensued between the owner and Payton. Payton got into the driver’s seat of a van being used and said he would be driving. The owner stood in front of the van instructing Payton he would not be driving.
Payton “bumped” the van into the owner without knocking him down. Payton then got out of the van and began physically assaulting the owner, including picking him up and pushing him down. The other employee called 911.
Click for more information
Click for more information
The owner was not able to get up when Payton and the other employee left in the van, leaving the owner on the ground alone in the parking lot.
First responders arrived and transported the owner to PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center with leg and hip injuries requiring surgery.
The owner was released from the hospital on October 23, 2024, to his Kent residence. The next day he was found unresponsive and unable to be revived.
An autopsy by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that cause of death was acute pneumonia with complications from immobility due to his injuries. The manner of death was determined to be homicide.
Click for more information
Click for more information
Payton was found to have previously lived with family in Nebraska.
A national extraditable arrest warrant was issued for Lester Dwight Payton, Sr., formerly of Kent, Washington, on June 17, 2025. Ferndale officials did not immediately respond to a request for information about where Payton was located and how he was brought into custody.
Payton was arrested and booked into the Whatcom County Jail on Monday, July 28, 2025.
As of July 29, 2025, he remains in custody at the jail without the opportunity to post bail.
Discover more from Whatcom News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.