Bail has been set at $1 million for a Centralia man accused of holding a gun to an ex-partner’s head during an argument over the weekend.
The man is not being named by The Chronicle in order to protect the identities of the alleged victim and a child who witnessed the incident.
The man and the victim had reportedly been arguing in the victim’s apartment when the victim repeatedly asked him to leave and the suspect refused, according to court documents. When the couple's child reportedly came into the room they were arguing in to see what was going on, the man allegedly pushed the child out of the room and locked the door before allegedly pulling the victim’s gun — a SCCY CPX 9mm pistol— out of the victim’s purse.
The suspect then allegedly pulled the slide back — loading a round into the chamber — pushed the victim, held her down and pointed the firearm at her forehead, according to court documents.
“While doing that, (the suspect) told (the victim) he was going to kill her, and that he would kill her in the middle of the apartment or he would shoot her in the woods,” according to court documents.
The man then appeared to put the gun back in the victim’s purse, and the victim fled the room.
The man reportedly came out of the room carrying clothing and took the victim’s phone, keys and computer before leaving.
He allegedly told the victim “she was not going to report him to police and ruin his life,” according to court documents.
The victim later told law enforcement she believed the clothing was concealing the gun, as she was unable to locate it after the man left.
The victim later told law enforcement she was able to retrieve her phone from a relative of the man who had picked him up from the victim’s residence.
In a text message provided to law enforcement by one of the man’s relatives, the man allegedly wrote, “I grabbed her pistol and cocked it and said you want to ruin my life ill f(**)ing end yours and had it at her head and then shoved her down and then I threw her gun away and her tablet and her phone is on me I need the f(**)k out of hear now,” according to court documents.
Dispatch soon reportedly advised law enforcement that the man “was suicidal and was in the woods,” according to court documents.
Officers with the Centralia Police Department reportedly had the victim text the man to try and get him to return to the apartment. She reportedly asked him where the firearm was located and he provided a location within her residence, but she and the officers were unable to locate the firearm.
One of the officers soon observed the man’s vehicle in the area, conducted a traffic stop and arrested him.
During his arrest, the man reportedly denied the involvement of a firearm in the argument with the victim and reportedly said “he was going to drive off a canyon when he was out in the woods.”
One of the officers stayed with the victim and noted the victim received three calls from the man while he was at the jail. During one of those calls, he allegedly told the victim not to provide a statement to law enforcement, according to court documents.
The man now faces seven separate domestic violence charges stemming from the incident, the most serious of which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
“He was one trigger pull from killing her,” said Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello during the man’s preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court later that week.
Due to the alleged involvement of the firearm and the defendant’s history, which includes a pending case involving the victim in question, Masiello asked Judge Joely Yeager to set the defendant's bail at $1 million and to issue a no-contact order protecting the victim and the child who witnessed the initial argument.
Defense Attorney Rachel Tiller asked Yeager to set bail at no more than $100,000, though stated she believed that amount would be beyond the defendant’s ability to pay. She argued that the defendant had strong family support, which included a pair of family members who appeared in court for his preliminary hearing.
Yeager determined high bail was warranted and granted Masiello’s requests for the $1 million bail and the no-contact order.
“I do wanna see my son,” the defendant said after the bail was set.
Yeager clarified that the child was a witness in the case and the no contact order meant the man was not to have any contact with his son while the case is active.
Reporter Isabel Vander Stoep contributed to this report.
