PUYALLUP, Wash. — A Pierce County father wanted for the fentanyl death of his child, who has been on the run for nearly 20 months, was arrested in Thurston County over the weekend following a traffic stop.
According to Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, on Sunday night, a deputy stopped a car in Yelm that didn’t have a license plate on it.
A passenger in the vehicle had drugs next to him, according to Sanders.
Sanders said the passenger was removed from the vehicle and was giving a false name.
“I saw a baggie between his legs and I was like, ‘Hey, man, what’s that baggie between your legs?’ And he started stuffing it and I was like ‘No, I’ll pull it out.“ It was drugs... and then he started playing the name game,” one responding deputy with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) said on body cam shared by Pierce County.
That passenger was eventually identified as 32-year-old Kyler Lawrence, who was wanted out of Pierce County in connection with the 2025 fentanyl death of his child.
Why was Lawrence wanted?
On March 13, 2025, just before 4 p.m., deputies responded to a medical aid call for a 5-year-old child at a home in Puyallup.
According to the child’s mother, Jordan Shank, she told deputies that she dozed off with the child on March 12 around 7 p.m. while the child was watching a show and eating chips.
Shank told deputies that the child’s father, Kyler Lawrence, woke her up around 4 a.m. on March 13, asking about the condition of their son, saying that the child “looked funny.”
According to charging documents for Shank, she woke up to find the child next to her with vomit on him, and not breathing. She also said the child’s lips were blue.
She called 911 and began chest compressions.
The 5-year-old was pronounced dead at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. The Pierce County Medical Examiner determined the child died from acute fentanyl toxicity.
According to probable cause documents, drug paraphernalia was not found around the victim, but drugs and paraphernalia were found around the house. Two pieces of tin foil with brown substances on them and a glass pipe (commonly used for ingesting narcotics) were found in what was believed to be the child’s room, according to court documents.
During questioning, Shank admitted that she and Lawrence use fentanyl every day, according to court docs. She said the night before their son died, they both “took a hit” of fentanyl in their roommate’s room.
Shank was arrested in May of 2025 for first-degree manslaughter.
Lawrence fled the scene before deputies on the day his child died, before deputies could make contact with him.
Probable cause documents for Shank’s case filed in 2025 described Lawrence’s whereabouts on the day the child was found dead:
“The Central Pierce chaplain informed deputies that the father of the child and Jordan’s boyfriend, Kyler Lawrence, had been at the house when they arrived, but went into the back yard while Central Pierce was administering aid to the victim. Deputies went into the backyard to talk to him, but were unable to locate him, despite making announcements of their presence.
Deputies canvassed the backyard and observed the gate to the backyard that led to the front of the house was left open. Additionally, there was a cut in the chain-link fence in the backyard that led to a retention pond area. It appeared that he left through one of those egress points.
Jordan was asked where Kyler might have gone, and stated that Kyler has “had a lot of death in the family” and must have had PTSD from seeing the victim and left. Jordan was asked about his phone number, but said that he just got a new phone and did not know his new number."
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said it now has “new information,” and in September, they were able to get a warrant for Lawrence’s arrest for first-degree manslaughter.
It’s unclear what that new information was.
However, according to probable cause documents for Lawrence, although it was initially believed he fled from the home when deputies arrived, it was determined he actually hid in the attic while law enforcement was at his home.
On top of the manslaughter charge in Pierce County, Sanders said his office will also be referring charges for drug possession and first-degree criminal impersonation in Thurston County.
Lawrence appeared in Pierce County Superior Court on Oct. 19.
Bail has been set at $1.5 million.