TACOMA, Washington — Two teen brothers, ages 14 and 16, were arrested Friday evening after their mother discovered a body in their Tacoma home.
Investigators said the incident started when a woman came home from work around 4 p.m. and found a body in her inside her home, located near the intersection of East 52nd Street and East McKinley Avenue, police said.
She drove to the nearest police station to report it and by the time she'd returned with officers, the body had been moved to a recycling bin in an alley, the Tacoma Police Department said.
The woman told police she lives at the home with her two teenage sons and they were accounted for. Police said the sons were interviewed by homicide detectives.
According to police, the victim was a teenage boy, but not related to the family. His identity has not been revealed.
Police told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News the teens confessed. After putting together evidence found at the house, police determined it was enough for the teens to face murder charges. Investigators worked throughout the night to collect more evidence.
Detectives said the teen’s body was moved to the recycling bin after he was killed inside of the home.
"It's kind of shocking, really," neighbor Briann Hein said. "It's not like the neighborhood, with the school right there and everyone's really nice. It's just not something you'd expect in your neighborhood at all."
Another neighbor, Yasmin Herrara, was shocked to hear about what happened and she said the boys walked their younger sister to school in the mornings.
“I don’t hear nothing,” Herrara said. “I saw them today at 8:30, when they took the little girl to school.”
“Weapons, and what took place, why it happened, we haven’t identified a victim; we have a long way to go,” said Mark Fulghum of the Tacoma Police Department.
The 16-year-old boy is in the Pierce County Jail and his 14-year-old brother is at Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center. The boys will appear before judges on Monday.
KIRO
