Woman arrested after body found in White Center apartment

WHITE CENTER, Washington — A woman was arrested Friday night after officers found a body inside a small White Center apartment building.

The King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) received a 911 call at 7:15 pm with reports of a possible homicide in the White Center area of ​​unincorporated King County.

When officers arrived at the small apartment building, they found a woman dead inside one of the rooms.

A woman was arrested at the scene and then booked into the King County Jail at approximately 1:30 am.

On Saturday night, the King County Prosecutor’s Office shared more information with KOMO in the form of “probable cause documents.”

Documents say the suspect is a 19-year-old woman and the victim was a 73-year-old woman who owned the apartment.

The documents go on to state that the suspect was a tenant in the building rented by the victim and had lived there for a year. The suspect was arrested by officers after her brother-in-law called them at the address.

The brother-in-law told authorities that the suspect had approached his sister and told her he had killed someone and showed her the victim’s body in a video call, according to the documents.

The suspect initially told someone at the King County Communications Center that “it was all a joke and that she was in Everett with a friend,” but then said, “I killed her,” referring to the homeowner, “she “She tried to hit me and I stabbed her.”

After being arrested, the suspect told officers during questioning that she had “recently fallen behind on her rent.” That night, the landlord called her into another room and asked her when she could pay the rent.

The suspect then claims that the victim “hit her in the face during this exchange” and that the suspect hit her on the back “hard and stabbed her twice with a knife that was already in the room.”

The suspect in the documents describes a fight between the two and says the victim “pulled her hair and the drawstring of her hoodie during the fight, and she responded by grabbing a nearby knife and stabbing her.”

The detective then asked “what would have happened if she hadn’t stabbed” the victim?

“Nothing,” the suspect said. The victim “would still be alive and I wouldn’t be here.”

The documents state that the suspect’s brother-in-law told detectives that she had been threatening to kill the landlord since last month, “if he asked her again about paying rent.”

The suspect’s sister and brother-in-law lived at the same residence but moved out last month. However, it is claimed that the landlord would call them to complain that the suspect is not paying the rent. According to the documents, the sister and brother-in-law did not take the threats seriously.

The suspect faces a charge of second-degree murder and is currently in the King County Jail, held on $2 million bail.

According to officials, no previous cases involving the suspect have been referred to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.