A 43-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in Thurston County Superior Court after being arrested during an Aug. 1 manhunt.
Steven L. Messex is being held in the county jail without bail. Judge John Skinder ordered he be held there until further order during an Aug. 2 warrant identification hearing.
The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Messex with first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm on July 31. He's accused of fatally shooting Savannah M. Feiler on July 20 near Percival Creek on Olympia's west side.
The Olympia Police Department and the Thurston County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Task Force arrested Messex on Aug. 1 following a manhunt in the 19300 block of State Route 507 in Bucoda. The arrest came a day after Olympia police offered a cash reward to anyone who provided useful information about Messex.
To hold Messex without bail, Skinder determined that Messex has an "established propensity for violence" that creates a "substantial likelihood of danger" to the community or any persons, according to court records.
Skinder also barred Messex from contacting co-defendant Amanda A. Fontaine and a witness who was involved in the July 20 incident.
Fontaine, 40, has been accused of being present during the shooting and helping Messex avoid law enforcement.
On Aug. 6, prosecutors charged her with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. She is being held in the county jail in lieu of $1 million bail, per the jail roster.
Messex and Fontaine are due back in court for their arraignment hearings at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13.
The investigation
A probable cause statement describes the investigation into the incident from the perspective of law enforcement.
Olympia police responded to the 1400 block of Evergreen Park Drive Southwest at about 4:50 a.m. July 20 after someone called to report a possible gunshot victim.
The caller told police a suspect shot Feiler on the train tracks nearby and fled the area on foot towards Marathon Park on Deschutes Parkway.
Officers contacted Feiler's partner at the scene and provided medical aid to Feiler until fire department personnel arrived to take over.
The officer noted Feiler appeared wounded on her upper left chest and mid back. She was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene at about 5:29 a.m.
Feiler's partner told police that Messex and Fontaine approached him and Feiler as they walked north on the train tracks. He said Fontaine started yelling at them that they didn't belong there.
Messex allegedly "pistol-whipped" Feiler's partner in the back of the head. Feiler's partner told police he then heard a gunshot and Feiler started yelling that she had been shot. Feiler reportedly fell to the ground and her partner yelled for someone to call 911. He said he performed CPR on her for about 25 minutes.
The statement notes an officer knew Messex and Fontaine to be a couple that camped in the Decatur Woods. They were allegedly known as "enforcers" in the homeless camps in the area.
Messex was accused of shooting someone in the leg in 2023 but the statement says the victim was uncooperative with police. Meanwhile, Fontaine had been previously arrested for assault with a baseball bat.
Officers set up a perimeter and used a K9 dog to track Messex and Fontaine. The dog reportedly tracked them about 100-150 yards until they came across a portable phone charger that had the names Amanda and Steve written on it in purple writing.
At about 7:13 a.m. that day, officers found a Chevrolet van that was believed to be associated with Messex and Fontaine. Officers broke the windows and deployed chemical munitions inside the vehicle, but the statement indicates it was empty.
Back at the crime scene, a detective reportedly found a bullet in Feiler's backpack, suggesting it traveled through her body and stopped inside it. A folding knife was also found resting just outside the train tracks, about 3 feet from her body.
Later that afternoon, the detective and other officers visited the campsite of Messex of Fontaine. They contacted a person who told police he was asked to watch the camp.
The campsite was located on a trail at the bottom of a ravine that extended down to the train tracks, according to the statement. With a warrant, police searched the campsite and the van they previously found.
Inside the campsite, police allegedly found and seized two different handgun cases, two empty magazines, a bag of loose ammunition, a loaded improvised shotgun, two shotgun shells, a loaded magazine and a leather gun case with more ammunition inside.
A single 9 mm bullet was allegedly found and seized inside the van, according to the probably cause statement.
An anonymous tip informed police Fontaine was staying at an apartment on the 500 block of Division Street Northwest. Police checked the area and found a Dodge vehicle that they believed was associated with Fontaine.
Police surveilled the apartment, followed Fontaine to a local pharmacy and arrested her. The detective then interviewed Fontaine at the Olympia Police Department.
Fontaine allegedly denied or minimized knowledge of various details that she later admitted to knowing during the interview, according to the statement.
She allegedly told police that she and Messex crossed paths with Feiler and Feiler's partner on July 20. An argument ensued because Messex believed Feiler's partner owed him money.
That argument allegedly escalated into a physical fight between Messex and Feiler's partner and Feiler started waiving a small knife before a gunshot went off, the statement says.
Fontaine allegedly said she quickly left the area and returned to her campsite without Messex. However, she allegedly later met with Messex at a friend's apartment on Division Street.
Fontaine said she and Messex traveled to Shelton where they met another friend. This friend reportedly allowed them to borrow a white Ford truck that Messex used to drive back to Olympia while Fontaine used the Dodge vehicle.
Fontaine allegedly said she last saw Messex shortly before police contacted her. She allegedly told police Messex became upset because he didn't want to be in the area any longer.
Police seized Fontaine's phone as well as several items from the Ford truck after being granted a search warrant.
Within the truck, police seized a black handgun, a spent 9 mm bullet casing in the chamber of the handgun and 12 9 mm bullets loaded in a magazine of the handgun.
On July 22, officers responded to the 2600 block of Martin Way East after someone called to report seeing Messex in the area. The caller alleged Messex asked for narcotics and appeared to be carrying a firearm, according to the statement.
Officers tried to find Messex, but the statement says he somehow observed law enforcement in the area and managed to flee on foot.
Olympia police and several other law enforcement agencies attempted to locate and arrest Messex for several days with no success until Aug. 1.
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