Boy calls 911 after he was stabbed,mother was killed
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Boy calls 911 after he was stabbed, mother was killed
By HECTOR CASTRO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
LAKEWOOD -- Bleeding from a stab wound that lacerated his liver, an 8-year-old Tillicum boy still managed to call 911 and tell the dispatcher that his father had just stabbed him and killed his mother.
"It took a lot of guts," Lakewood police Lt. Brett Farrar said yesterday.
The slain woman was identified as Pranee Sukto, 39, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office said. An autopsy has yet to be performed.
Police arrested her 36-year-old husband and booked him into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.
Sukto filed for divorce in Pierce County Superior Court on Dec. 23, and the next day sought a temporary restraining order, but details of the allegations were not available yesterday and it was unclear if the couple had ever separated.
Lakewood police were called to the modest home on Forest Road Southwest about 4 a.m., after the boy, Tony Sukto, called 911, Farrar said.
Officers and medics raced to the home and found the father outside near his red Toyota pickup, its engine running and lights on. The man put up a struggle, Farrar said, but was quickly arrested.
"He spoke with detectives and claimed that he killed his wife and his son and that he was hearing voices," Farrar said.
The man also allegedly admitted smoking methamphetamine earlier that night, the lieutenant said.
The boy was taken to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, where he was reported in stable condition last night.
Detectives worked into the evening processing the bloody crime scene at the home in Tillicum, a blue-collar neighborhood between Fort Lewis and American Lake.
Neighbors stood in the cold and drizzle, watching from their yards as investigators went through the painstaking process of evidence collection. Most were saddened by the news, although the couple and their son had lived there just a few months.
Jessie Stoddard, who lives about three houses from the Suktos, said her 6-year-old son often played with Tony.
"They were always riding their bikes up and down the street together," she said.
In the morning, after learning what had happened, Stoddard told her son about the attack.
"He's upset and he's sad," she said.
Despite the allegation of abuse that was part of the divorce case, there were no previous calls for disturbances at the home, Farrar said.
The husband had no criminal record, except for an incident in February when he was arrested for driving under the influence.
But Merril Cousin, executive director of the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said obvious signs of abuse don't always precede a domestic violence homicide.
"There wasn't a criminal record, but only a fraction of domestic violence assaults are ever reported," Cousin said.
The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence conducts regular reviews of cases of domestic violence homicides, she said.
One finding that the reviews have shown is that even when authorities aren't notified of abuse, friends and relatives are frequently aware of something.
"Most often, somebody knows," Cousin said. "Often they are concerned and recognize the level of danger and just don't know what to do."
Reducing domestic violence has become a growing priority for victims' advocates and law enforcement agencies. This month, which is recognized nationally as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, police agencies in 40 states targeted those wanted for outstanding warrants in domestic violence-related cases.
In Seattle, detectives arrested 11 people in a two-day effort. The Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit typically arrests about 15 people on warrants in a month. Detectives who handle domestic violence cases often consider their work "homicide prevention" because of statistics connecting abuse and homicides.
A study by the state domestic violence coalition found that a third of all women killed in Washington die at the hands of a current or former intimate partner. Between 1997 and 2001, according to the same study, 205 people died as a result of domestic violence, including 17 children.
Last year, Seattle police reported five domestic violence homicides. The King County Sheriff's Office reported six.
Cousin has helped review some of those killings "so that we can learn from the tragedy," she said, "and hopefully have something positive come out of it."
Anyone being abused, or concerned about someone who may be a victim of abuse, should call a domestic violence helpline, she said.
"Very often, when domestic violence results in a fatality, there is a long history of abuse," Cousin said.