Deputies were on scene at a homicide in Graham near 242nd St E and 94th Ave E. PIO also headed to the scene. The call to the Sheriff’s Department came after a friend of the man visited the location to check on him. The friend found the pair dead and called authorities. Deputies found a 68-year-old man and 75-year-old woman dead inside the home. The woman was the homeowner and tried to evict the man before he killed her and took his own life.
Clinton Calloway said his father is the man who was involved in the murder-suicide. Calloway said his dad had serious health issues and had been advised to enter hospice care, and thinks the eviction notice may have pushed him to a breaking point. “They were all fighting so much,” Calloway said. “She was pretty mean – not mean enough to have somebody murder her – but he just got to that point that whatever was going on, he didn’t know what to do or where to go, and he took it into his own hands and did what he did. I don’t understand it.”
Investigators said the man and woman lived together for years, but were not romantically involved. Sgt. Darren Moss. “It sounds like she was in the process of evicting him,” The victims’ cause and manner of death will be released by the Pierce County Medical Examiner. A gun was also found inside the home. Authorities do not believe there are any other people involved.
In 2019 there were 58,297 deaths to Washington State residents. The top five leading causes of death in Washington State were cancer, heart disease, unintentional injury (accidents), Alzheimer’s disease, and cerebrovascular diseases. Suicide was the 8th leading cause of death.
Overall, Washington State leading causes are similar to those of the United States although the rank order may be slightly different. The King County suicide rate has increased by about 18 percent in the last decade. Firearm injury is the leading cause of suicide death in King County. Seattle-Tacoma has the second highest suicide attempt rate out of the 33 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.
