A man charged with shooting a Tacoma woman to death with her three small children in the apartment also pointed the gun at her 5-year-old daughter, court records show.
The girl told a forensic interviewer she heard a "banging" sound when Tellieun Marquez Harvey, 21, pointed the black pistol at her, but detectives found no evidence shots had been fired at her.
"Detectives theorized that the sound that [the girl] reported that she heard while the gun was pointed at her was possibly the sound of the trigger being pulled on an empty chamber," court records state.
Harvey was charged in Pierce County Superior Court on Friday with first-degree murder in the killing of Elisia Simpson, 24, and attempted first-degree murder for pointing the gun at her daughter. Not-guilty pleas were entered on his behalf. Judge Phil Sorensen ordered Harvey held without bail while he undergoes a mental health evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial.
Police interviewed Harvey's mother the day Simpson was found dead.
She told them her son was acting strangely that morning and that she took him to Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup for treatment. Investigators learned he'd been transferred from there to Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital in Tacoma, where he was admitted. They arrested him there without incident, court records show.
Harvey declined to make a statement, according to a probable cause document.
Mother dead in Tacoma apartment
Police were dispatched to a unit at the Pacific Manor Apartments on Pacific Avenue about 10 a.m. May 17 after a woman walking outside saw young children on a balcony crying out, court records show. One of the children said their mother was dead inside.
"The child also said that there was blood, and that their mother had been shot 11 times by her boyfriend, 'Tillen,'" according to the probable cause statement.
Arriving officers found the door to the apartment locked, so they kicked it open.
"Immediately upon entering, the first officer saw a young girl ... running towards him. The officer picked her up, and then picked up a three year old child ... and then saw a two year child on the balcony. The officer grabbed the third child from the balcony and exited the apartment with all three in his arms," court records show.
"The oldest child told the officer that her mother's boyfriend, 'Tillien' had shot her mother. She also said that 'Tillien' held a small black firearm to her head. The children were transported to Mary Bridge Hospital for a medical evaluation."
Other officers searched the apartment. They found Simpson lying on a bed with "multiple obvious wounds to her left side", court records show.
"The victim was declared deceased at the scene. Officers observed approximately seven expended .40 caliber shell casings on the floor of the bedroom, the adjacent hallway, as well as in the children's bedroom," according to the probable cause statement. "They located what appeared to be a bullet hole in the wall to the left of the bed where the victim was lying."
Witness sees Harvey leave apartment
Officers spoke to a number of witnesses, including a person who said she heard loud bangs coming from Simpson's apartment about 6:30 a.m. on May 16 and then saw Harvey "running down the stairs and getting into a vehicle," according to the probable cause statement.
"The witness provided detectives with a photo she took of the person she identified as the victim's boyfriend," court records show. "She took the picture as he was leaving the apartment on the morning of May 16, 2022. The photo was taken at 0631 hours."
She also provided a license plate number of the car he left in.
Detectives also interviewed someone who spoke with Simpson on May 13 via Facetime, court records show.
"The witness had been concerned about the victim because she had not shown up to work in a week," according to the probable cause statement. "When the witness spoke to the victim via Facetime, she saw a knot on the side of the victim's face and asked the victim about it. She said that the victim wouldn't give any details other than to say that it was the reason she hadn't been at work."
Simpson's 5-year-old daughter later told the forensic interviewer she had been in her bedroom watching "Shrek" and "could hear her mother and the defendant arguing over the fact that her mother would not stop talking," court records show.
The girl said she heard gunshots, "and then after the gunshots, said that the defendant entered her room and pointed a black handgun directly at her face," the records show.
Detectives spoke to another witness who said Harvey came to her house about 10 a.m. May 16 and that he seemed "off" and might have been suffering an anxiety attack.
"She said he was shaking and acting weird. She did not want him in her house, so she drove him to his brother's house and dropped him off," court records show.
Another witness told detectives she'd gone out with Harvey and Simpson shortly before the killing and that Simpson had a swollen eye and bruised arm.
"The witness reported that at one point, the defendant got out of the car while at a gas station. The victim started crying and said that the defendant had beaten her the night before, but he wouldn't tell her why he was upset," court records show. "The victim also told the witness that the defendant had put a loaded gun to her head earlier in the day. ... The witness reported that the defendant's behavior had changed over time, stating that he 'spaces out and rocks back and forth and mumbles to himself."
'A harm to himself and others'
On May 18, detectives talked to Harvey's mother and told her her son could potentially be "a harm to himself and others," court records show.
She said she picked up the defendant from his brother's house May 17 "and recognized that he was not acting normal. She thought he was having a mental health related issue," court records show.
"The mother said that the defendant took his medication and could tell he had not been taking [it]. She said he then slept for an extended period of time," according to the probable cause statement. "Believing that her son needed medical attention, she transported him to Good Samaritan Hospital."
