Mother stabbed at Seattle Center sought protective order

A man stabbed the mother of his child at Seattle Center Friday in front of crowds of people and their 5-year-old son. The incident led to Seattleites stepping in to chase the man down until police arrived.

According to the documents, Gabrielle Garcia, 28, received a protection order last month against David Lee Morris.

Morris, 29, reportedly stabbed 28-year-old Gabrielle Garcia while they were sitting in the Seattle Center Armory Friday afternoon. The stabbing happened in front of their son. Court documents show that Garcia previously obtained a temporary protection order against Morris.

Garcia died a few hours after the stabbing. According to a probable-cause affidavit Morris told police he killed Garcia to improve their son’s life.

A judge determined last weekend that there’s probable cause to hold Morris on first-degree murder. He’s scheduled to appear in court Monday. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.

Eric DeAngelo, a photographer and performance artist, saw Morris shortly after the incident at Seattle Center.

“Both of his hands were bloody,” DeAngelo said. “So I started making a video.”

DeAngelo told KIRO 7 that he spotted Morris with a knife in his right hand, being held at bay by another man pointing a gun. He did not know was that eyewitnesses report they saw Morris viciously stabbing a woman moments earlier.

“He was just walking toward the, the man with the gun,” DeAngelo said. “Kept walking toward him. I don’t know what his intention was.”

 

That man was Scott Brown, who works at the Armory food court and was there on his day off to meet a friend. Brown, who has a concealed pistol license, told Q-13 “I saw a girl on the ground laying on someone’s lap, people rushing over … My focus was going outside.”

Brown said he didn’t want to shoot anyone and he was just waiting for help, which took too long.

“The point was to hold his focus,” Brown told Q-13. “There were people everywhere, and he’s focused on me. He’s not running after other people. He’s focused on me.”

Brown walked backwards through the Seattle Center to a field where Seattle Police arrived and arrested Morris. Brown told Q-13 Morris continued urging him to shoot him, saying “Make the shot count. He killed the only person he ever loved.”

DeAngelo kept filming as Seattle police arrived and stunned Morris with a taser and took him into custody.

According to the probable cause document, Morris told Seattle detectives his relationship with Garcia was “off and on.” He said she had a history of “having other boyfriends and bringing more men into” their son’s life which he “feels is inappropriate.”

He said he considered killing Garcia in April or May, but decided instead to try to ”rehabilitate their relationship.” She agreed to meet him Friday afternoon at the Pacific Science Center. He got angry and began attacking her.

Seattle Center is home to the Space Needle, museums, fountains, theaters, other organizations, shops and restaurants.

The Associated Press and KIRO 7 contributed to this report.

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