SOUTH HILL, Wash. — A South Hill man suspected of fatally shooting a 19-year-old woman and sneaking across the Canadian border in an attempt to escape has been charged.
Jordan Eaton, 26, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and theft of a motor vehicle.
Pierce County prosecutors have issued a warrant for him.
Eaton was jailed Wednesday in Surrey, British Columbia, while prosecutors there decide whether to charge him with an immigration offense.
[ >> RELATED: Deputies: Man who killed girlfriend in South Hill arrested in Canada ]
After that, he will be extradited to Pierce County to face charges in Monday’s death of 19-year-old Cassandra Scaff.
Charging papers give this account:
Eaton’s mother was awakened about 4:25 a.m. Monday by a gunshot.
Her son then came into her bedroom to tell her he’d shot Scaff and ask for the keys to his mom’s car.
His mom refused.
“The mother went to the bedroom and saw the defendant drag Ms. Scaff’s body from the bed to the floor and continued removing her clothing looking for a gunshot wound,” records say.
He eventually fled on foot.
Deputies responded to the house in the 15100 block of 71st Avenue East and found Scaff’s body in a bedroom.
Her clothing was in disarray, and she’d been covered with a towel. A hunting knife was found under her legs and a long tube was found in her hand.
As detectives began their investigation, Eaton’s dad called to report his son had stolen a GMC van from the Puyallup distribution company where he works.
The van was found abandoned near the Canadian border in Blaine around 1 p.m. Surveillance video showed Eaton crossing the border.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found Eaton at a medical facility in Surrey and took him into custody.
They allegedly found a handgun and bloody clothing on him, authorities said.
A motive has not been determined for the shooting, and detectives are working to determine the relationship between Eaton and Scaff.
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Some people told investigators the two fought the day before the shooting, and at least one person overheard Eaton claiming he’d shot Scaff.
Text messages sent two hours before Scaff was shot indicate Eaton planned the incident, according to court records.
The texts included, “I just gotta go cause I cause nothing but pain for myself and others,” and, “Nobody will be able to get ahold of me anymore after today,” records say.
Kylee Lovejolley, Scaff’s 22-year-old sister, told The News Tribune that she does not want Scaff to be remembered for how she died.
“I don’t want her to be survived by the shooting being her story,” Lovejolley said on the phone from Utah, where she lives. “I want her story to be how sweet and kind she was.”
“Cassie” Scaff was an animal lover who talked about becoming a veterinarian when she was younger, her sister said.
“She was just the sweetest person you could ever possibly have known,” Lovejolley said. “She loved her dogs and she loved animals and she just had the kindest heart.”
The family is raising money for Scaff’s funeral expenses.
Lovejolley shared photos of Scaff and her dogs: a bull terrier named Marley and an elderly chocolate lab called Hershey.
Scaff set up an online fundraiser at one point to try to pay for Hershey’s vet bills, her sister said.
“He was just a really, really precious guy,” Lovejolley said of the dog. “I think he passed away recently.”
Scaff had been working at a fast-food restaurant and recently got a second job, her sister said.
“She was very mature,” Lovejolley said. “She did not have the easiest life, but she worked so hard and was just beyond her years.”
Scaff grew up in the South Sound and went to Puyallup’s Walker High School.
In addition to Lovejolley, Scaff is survived by her parents, a younger brother and a 19-year-old sister, Lovejolley said.
She thinks Scaff and Eaton had been dating for about five years and that they had been living with Eaton’s parents.
Lovejolley and others recently had been trying to get Scaff to move to Utah, she said.
Eaton’s parents sought a protection order against him in 2016.
“He has anxiety and anger issues and needs mental health help, anger management and drug and alcohol rehabilitation,” one of their petitions reads. “He has abused me and my wife both physically and verbally and has continued to destroy our property including the house, possessions within the house and vehicle and has pawned several things of ours in the past.”
Court records also show that Eaton is accused of using a baseball bat to smash the windows of his girlfriend’s mother’s vehicle May 10, 2018.
He had his first court appearance in that case last week, Jan. 22, at which he pleaded not guilty at arraignment to second-degree malicious mischief. He was released on his own recognizance.
Eaton’s previous convictions include fourth-degree assault, unlawful gun possession and unlawful solicitation to possess a gun.
Charging papers in one of those cases say in 2015 he grabbed a gun following an argument with his parents, threatened to kill himself, fired a shot in an unknown direction, then fled.
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