Cumberland, WA: Man arrested in teen runaway’s slaying

King County deputies have arrested a 25-year-old Kent man in a Dec. 11 shooting that saw a 16-year-old killed.
Kelsey Carter, 16, died of a gunshot wound following a shooting at a Cumberland home on Dec. 11. Carter, a runaway believed to have been living with her 25-year-old boyfriend, had been reported missing two months before she was killed.
On Tuesday, deputies arrested Carter's boyfriend 25-year-old man in connection to the killing.
A King County judge has since ordered him held on $100,000 on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter. A King County Prosecutor's Office spokesman said a charging decision is expected in coming days.
"The man was arrested at the Regional Justice Center after detectives asked him to come in and discuss the case," Sheriff's Office Sgt. John Urquhart said in a statement. "Formal charges are expected this week, and the Prosecutor's Office will decide on the specific charge."
According to a Sheriff’s Office statement issued the day after Carter was killed, the teen was shot at a home in the 33900 block of Southeast Green River Headworks Road outside of Enumclaw.
Carter’s boyfriend and another man living in the home took Carter to Enumclaw Community Hospital by truck, but the girl had died by the time they arrived at 8:20 p.m.
The girl’s mother, Christy Doll, called 911 earlier on Dec. 11 to report that her daughter was with her “boyfriend,” according to the Sheriff’s Office statement. She told investigators she saw Carter smoking on the deck of the house.
"I was sitting across the street when I saw her and I called 911," Doll told KOMO/4. "The cops went up to the house and talked to the boyfriend."
Before deputies arrived, two vehicles left the residence and deputies couldn’t determine whether Carter was still in the home. Investigators now contend Carter was in the home the entire time.
In court documents, investigators claim Carter and her boyfriend were preparing to walk to Cumberland when the man armed himself with a loaded, single-action revolver. The gun, a family heirloom, had been altered to make the trigger pull extremely light, according to court documents.
Carter was sitting on the man's lap when he attempted to adjust the holstered pistol, a King County detective continued. The gun discharged, sending a bullet through Carter's arm and into her chest; she died 45 minutes later.
"Subsequent examination of the revolver determined that in order for it to have fired under these circumstances, the hammer would have to be cocked and the trigger depressed fully," the detective told the court. "It could not have discharged unless physically manipulated by" the 25-year-old.
The man remained jailed Wednesday. Charges are expected Thursday afternoon.
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Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.