The 24-year-old suspect in the shooting death of a house-sitter in Renton late Tuesday is also a suspect in the killing of his grandmother earlier in the day in Skyway.
A Renton family returning home from vacation late discovered the body of the 21-year-old house-sitter in their Rolling Hills house. The family wasn’t able to reach the 21-year-old house-sitter, who was to have picked them up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Her name wasn’t immediately released.
The suspect, a Seattle man, was arrested and booked into the King County Jail early Wednesday. Renton detectives also recognized him as a suspect in the Skyway homicide, based on alerts sent to law-enforcement agencies by the King County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s deputies had discovered the body of a 66-year-old woman in the 11000 block of Parkview Avenue South on West Hill, according to Sgt. Stan Seo, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies have been to the residence in the past, including as recently as July 4, and the grandmother had a court order against the suspect, he said.
Renton Police Commander David Leibman said detectives are trying to establish the sequence of events between the two incidents. The motive is “really important,” he said, but so far the suspect hasn’t spoken with investigators.
The suspect’s first court appearance is Thursday, at which a judge will determine whether there is probable cause to charge him.
According to Leibman, the suspect is “in a relationship” with a daughter of the family who lives in the Renton home.
The daughter alerted police after he called her from Walgreen’s on Rainier Avenue to meet him. He was arrested without incident.
Leibman said the Renton victim was acquainted with the suspect. The back door was standing open and there were no signs of a forced entry nor signs of a struggle, he said.
Detectives were canvassing the neighborhood Wednesday but initially no one heard or saw anything suspicious, he said. Renton and sheriff detectives were working together Wednesday on the two cases.
Anyone with information about the Renton case is asked to call the Renton Police Department at 425-430-7500.
