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Teens accused of 2022 murder, staging 'suspicious disappearance' plead guilty
Two teenagers accused of killing a man near Orting in Sep. 2022—one of them seemingly staging a disappearance to avoid murder charges—have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. - Two teenagers accused of killing a man near Orting in Sep. 2022—one of them seemingly staging a disappearance to avoid murder charges—have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
The Pierce County Prosecutor's Office confirmed Wednesday that 17-year-olds Gabriel Davies and Justin Yoon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and will face more than 10 years behind bars if convicted.
Davies and Yoon are accused of killing 51-year-old Daniel McCaw in unincorporated Pierce County near Orting.
A law enforcement source confirmed to FOX 13 News the victim was identified as McCaw.
Deputies were called Sept. 1, 2022 to a welfare check at a home near 190th St E and 219th Ave Ct E, where they found McCaw dead from apparent gunshot and stab wounds. An early investigation led them to identify Olympia High School student Davies as the suspect in the murder—and deputies at the time were investigating what they described as the ‘suspicious disappearance’ of Davies, who had not shown up to football practice on Aug. 31 and whose truck was found abandoned in Tenino.
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According to court documents, Davies was found 36 hours later wandering Tilley Rd, just north of Beaver Creek and some three miles from where his truck had been found.
On Sept. 2, a family member of Yoon came forward with information on the crime, linking Yoon to the murder. He claimed McCaw's "biker buddies" had coerced the two to steal items from the victim's house, according to court documents.
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Deputies pored through surveillance video at the victim's house. It reportedly showed Davies and Yoon enter the backyard at 1:59 a.m. on Aug. 28, then climb through the dog door and enter the home. The victim is seen "stumbling" into his home around 2:41 a.m., and within minutes, his dog suddenly ran out of the dog door, and the suspects were seen fleeing the home carrying objects around 2:52 a.m.
McCaw had reportedly been left dead in his laundry room for days before deputies found him.
A family member of Davies told authorities that Davies had been jumped by the "biker buddies," who pulled him from his car on Tilley Road, then roughed him up while driving him around in a Suburban, reportedly smashing his face against the car interior, according to court docs.
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Both teens were arrested without incident, and led investigators to where they had allegedly disposed of two firearms they stole from McCaw's house.
Both were charged with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
The two teens are scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 6.