TACOMA, Wash. — Two teenage brothers charged with murder in the slaying of a 15-year-old boy told their mother they were cleaning up chili when she came home from lunch to find a bloody mess, a recycling bin and a body in her living room, prosecutors said.
Luis Arroyo, 16, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $2 million bail.
His 14-year-old brother, Cristobal Arroyo, has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held at Remann Hall in Tacoma. A judge will determine at a later hearing if he will be charged as an adult.
Pierce County Prosecutors said that when Luis Arroyo told police how he killed 15-year-old Hector Hernandez, he was calm and matter-of-fact.
"Just that they did it, put him in a tub to drain him, then the solution was to put him in a recycle bin to get rid of him," said Phil Sorenson, the deputy Pierce County prosecuting attorney.
Police said that on Friday around 2 p.m., the teen boys’ mother reported to Tacoma police that she had arrived home to find blood and a dead body in her house. She told police she came home from work at lunch and found a blue recycle bin in the living room as well as towels with reddish-brown stains on the floor, prosecutors said.
Her sons told her they were cleaning up chili, but the woman realized it was blood, and her sons then claimed a man had attacked them and they were forced to kill him, police said. The woman went upstairs and saw a boy lying on a sheet, dead, prosecutors said. She then drove to the police substation to speak with officers. Police arrived at the eastside Tacoma home and found the victim’s body wrapped in a blanket in a recycling bin in the alley behind the house.
According to prosecutors Hernandez apparently came to the home to meet Luis Arroyo. When Luis Arroyo, who was armed with a knife, tried to take the Hernandez’ marijuana and cash, a fight began, police said.
When Cristobal Arroyo heard the struggle and saw his older brother fighting over a knife with the victim, he armed himself with a large nail and stabbed the victim in the neck and back, prosecutors said.
When the brothers moved the victim into the bathtub, he was still alive and making noises, so one of the brothers cut his throat to kill him, prosecutors said. The two then robbed Hernandez of $166 and several bags of marijuana.
The boys were attempting to clean up the crime scene when their mother came home, police said.
Police said that when officers asked Luis Arroyo where the body was, he said, "in the bin out back."
A family member of Hernandez spoke briefly with reporters through an interpreter during Cristobal Arroyo's court appearance Monday.
"They're not willing to say anything right now, other than he was a good kid and he meant a lot to us," the interpreter said.
During a search of the home, investigators said they found two BB guns, a knife, a machete, a shank or makeshift stabbing instrument, and trash bags loaded with used cleaning materials.
Investigators said they counted more than 34 stab and slash wounds on the victim and blade of a knife appeared to be broken off in the victim’s head.