New arrest in Gig Harbor murder-for-hire

GIG HARBOR -- A third person suspected in a murder-for-hire plot in Gig Harbor last year was jailed Monday on $1 million bail according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

Pierce County prosecutors will decide by Wednesday whether to charge J.R. Child, 23, in the death of Leon Bauchman Jr.

Bauchman's mother-in-law, Jacqueline Ray, and co-defendent Luis Barker, pleaded not guilty to first degree murder charges in Bauchman's shooting death.

Prosecutors said that Ray agreed to pay Barker $10,000 to kill Bauchman because he had a long history of beating her daughter, and feared he might kill her.

Authorities said they could not discuss Child's alleged role in the homicide.