Teen daughter discovers murder-suicide in Puyallup

A couple was found dead in a Puyallup home Monday.

Deputies with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office responded to a murder-suicide after the two bodies were discovered by the couple’s family members.

“At 1:30 this morning our deputies responded to a residence where there were two people down on the ground when we arrived,” Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer said. “We found a female who was shot and deceased, and a male who was shot and deceased. After a short investigation it was determined that this was a homicide-suicide. And that the two were in a relationship.”

Troyer further noted that the couple seemed to have had an on-again, off-again relationship.

The sheriff’s office reports that it appears the 31-year-old man shot and killed his 34-year-old girlfriend, before turning the gun on himself. The bodies were discovered around 1:30 a.m. on Monday by the girlfriend’s teenage daughter and sister.

“Her daughter, and her daughter’s aunt went to the residence, worried about the mom because they had been fighting earlier in the evening, and when they got there, they saw they were both down on the ground and called 9-1-1,” Troyer said. “And that’s when we arrived and unfortunately found them both deceased.”

No neighbors heard the gunshots. The sheriff’s office said the shooting likely happened late Saturday or early Sunday.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this story.