Gabriel Davies: Teen, 16, who disappeared on way to football practice arrested on suspicion of murder
THURSTON, WASHINGTON: A 16-year-old teenager who was initially reported missing after failing to show up for football practice has been arrested by police on suspicion of killing a 51-year-old man. As the News Tribune reports, investigators found Gabriel Davies late Thursday night, Sept 1, not far from where his disappearance had been reported. Davies, along with another teenager, also 16, was arrested the next day on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Deputies of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department were called to a home in Orting, Washington, to do a welfare check on a man who had not shown up for work for four days. When they arrived, they found the 51-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound, but could not find a weapon.
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Although the juveniles were not formally charged with the crime, they were lodged in Remann Hall, Pierce County's juvenile detention center, on suspicion of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and unlawful possession of a weapon. Prosecutors will also decide whether to charge Davies and the other person as adults, which could carry harsher consequences.
It is also reported that the victim and Davies, an Olympia High School football player, knew each other. Although the victim has not yet been publicly identified, he and Davies' mother were reportedly a couple, the newspaper reported. Property and court records obtained by The News Tribune linked Davies to the address where the victim was found. The two 16-year-old men were arrested shortly after 8.pm. Friday after sheriff's deputies investigated the scene and collected evidence.
"Our detectives did a lot of work finding evidence at the scene, as well as talking to other people and just developing the good probable cause, to find a connection between the suspects and the victim," Moss said. "Ultimately, they were able to get all the evidence they needed by Friday afternoon to make these arrests." Moss did not specify what specific evidence linked the teens to the crime.
“Very surprising. Again, we have young kids committing very violent and heinous crimes ... you know, there is so much going on for young people nowadays,” Moss said. “You just wonder what leads kids to do terrible things like this." Washington state law prohibits juvenile suspects from being interviewed by officers until permission has been granted by an attorney, Moss said, so detectives had not yet spoken to the teens. "Trying to figure out why these kids did this, we don't get to sit them down and talk to them," Moss said. "The law makes it so the juveniles have to have the attorney present before we can do the interviews."