Case against teen charged with stabbing mother’s boyfriend to death dismissed

Prosecutors have dismissed the case against a teen accused of fatally stabbing his mother’s boyfriend last month.

Investigators determined the killing on April 30 was a case of justifiable homicide.

“This was a challenging homicide to process and investigate since the suspect was a juvenile,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Carly Cappetto in a blog post. “Due to the Washington State juvenile laws put in place in 2021, detectives were not able to legally interview or talk with the young man to determine his side of the story.”

The boy was booked into the Juvenile Detention Center, Remann Hall, until detectives could get his statement from his defense attorney, Cappetto said.

Prosecutors had charged the 16-year-old Tacoma boy with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed and killed his mother’s boyfriend during a fight in their shared apartment unit.

The case against the boy was dismissed Thursday, Cappetto said.

“We are thankful this case can finally be closed, and this young man can move forward with love and support from his family and community.”

Details on the fatal stabbing

Deputies with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office were called to Coventry Court Apartments on the 1000 block of 76th Street Court E. in Tacoma at approximately 1:45 a.m. on April 30. The mother and her boyfriend, 23, were allegedly having a verbal argument when the teenage son, 16, got involved and stabbed the boyfriend multiple times.

“Neighbors had told deputies that they heard yelling and things being thrown around the apartment just prior to the screams for help,” Pierce County Detective Courteney Bealko stated in court documents obtained by KIRO Newsradio.

The fight was allegedly about the boyfriend accusing his girlfriend, the suspect’s mother, of cheating on him.

When the deputies arrived, they found the teenage son at the crime scene with blood on his face but no visible injuries, according to court documents. He was subsequently taken into custody. According to Bealko, the teenage suspect said he did not intend to cause harm.

“When I asked why [the boy] had stabbed the victim, she replied that the victim had assaulted her at one point during the argument, and when [the boy] saw this, he said something to the victim, who then followed [the boy] into his bedroom and they started to argue,” Pierce County Detective Monti Minion wrote in court documents.

According to Minion’s statement, the mother had a bruise next to her right eye, with swelling that extended to her jawbone.

The victim of the stabbing was taken to Tacoma General Hospital, where he died. While in custody, the suspect referred to the victim as his stepfather.

“(The mother) turned to face me and asked if the victim was dead. I confirmed that he had died,” Minion continued. “She lost control of herself and slid out of the back of the car onto the ground. She continued to yell and scream and stated that we had killed the victim due to a lack of medical aid when patrol had arrived on scene. I explained that we did everything that we could have done for him. I could tell that she was intoxicated as I could smell the strong odor of intoxicants on her breath.”

The suspect has a 9-year-old brother, who was home during the incident.

While the suspect was in custody, he began talking to the officers.

“He said he was asleep and was mad when he got woken up by the victim,” Minion stated. “He then went in and told the victim to ‘shut up.’ (He) then said he got scared and grabbed a knife. The victim then grabbed him and pushed him into his bedroom. (The teenage suspect) said he thought the victim had hurt his mom. He also stated that the victim threatened to knock him out.”

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