PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — An Orting man who was found dead in his home Sept. 1 was the ex-fiancé of the mother of 16-year-old Gabriel Davies, sources told KING 5. Davies went missing under "suspicious circumstances" the night before the man was found and was arrested in connection with the incident.
Pierce County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) deputies found the man while responding to the 21900 block of 190th Street E in Orting for a wellness check after the 51-year-old had not shown up for work in several days.
The community recently searched for Davies after they went missing earlier in the week and his truck was found abandoned with small amounts of blood near Tenino off Tilley Road.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office found Davies safe Thursday night.
Davies was arrested Friday night and booked into the Pierce County Juvenile Detention Center for second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. A second 16-year-old was also arrested Friday in connection to the homicide and faces the same charges.
Typically, KING 5 does not name juveniles who are arrested but is confirming this connection because of recent coverage of the community search and in consideration of the gravity of the crime.
The PCSD said they knew Davies was a suspect on Thursday. Evidence found at the scene linked two 16-year-olds to the man's death but did not specify what that evidence was.
"Our detectives did a lot of work finding evidence at the scene as well as talking to other people and just developing good probable cause to find a connection between the suspects and the victim," PCSD Sgt. Darren Moss said. "Ultimately, they were able to get all the evidence they needed by Friday afternoon to make these arrests."
Residents of Chinook Estates enjoy the peace and quiet, so it was surprising for residents to hear about one of their neighbors being murdered.
“It’s pretty quiet. We keep to ourselves; we keep an eye out for each other up here,” said Ken Brainerd, who is a neighbor of the victim.
Police found the 51-year-old man on Thursday, but the PCSD said he had been shot days earlier.
“Shocked, not expecting anything like that around here,” said Sharon Kisinger, who has been living in Chinook Estates for 25 years. She said her neighbor had been there for about 20 years.
Kisinger said the 51-year-old kept to himself, but sometimes she did hear him.
“Mostly if he rode his motorcycle because he was the only one in the area on a motorcycle, and I didn’t have to look out to see it was a motorcycle,” Kisinger said.
The severity of the situation is still shocking to many who live on the street.
“The only people that come up here other then those that live here is the mail lady, so it was quite the shock,” said Brainerd.
Pierce County prosecutors will determine if there's enough evidence for charges to be filed. We expect to hear from them on Tuesday.