GOLD BAR, Wash. — The suspect accused of shooting two women in Gold Bar, one of them fatally, after meeting to discuss car repairs has been charged with murder.
The suspect, 44-year-old Kristopher Dillard, was charged with second-degree murder and third-degree assault on Monday. A bail of $1 million has been requested.
The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said the shooting happened on Jan. 2 after a verbal altercation took place at the Big Eddy boat launch in Gold Bar.
According to court documents, one of the victims called police as she was fleeing the scene and told them her friend had been murdered next to her and that she had been shot in the head.
The victim told police she abandoned her car and hid after it became disabled near Old Owen Road in Monroe. The documents said the victim was scared Dillard was chasing after her.
Responding deputies discovered a 32-year-old woman, identified as Ashley Hozjan in court documents, deceased in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound to the head and the 29-year-old caller with a "considerable amount of blood" on her clothing and a laceration on her forehead. The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The court documents said the victim told police that she knew Dillard through narcotics transactions and recent discussions surrounding car repairs. However, Hozjan was "mere acquaintances at best" with Dillard, according to police.
Through the investigation, detectives learned the two women met up with Dillard at Big Eddy boat launch regarding money for a car part.
The documents revealed the verbal altercation happened because Dillard wanted to discuss a relationship with one of the victims, to which one of the victims told him to get out of her car.
Dillard allegedly told the victim "Well, you have seen the generous side of me, now you are going to see the other side" before fatally shooting Hozjan and striking the 29-year-old on the head with the firearm.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Violent Offender Task Force located Dillard and took him into custody near the Ben Howard boat launch in Monroe on Jan. 3.