High School Football Player Gabriel Davies’ Disappearance Was Staged to Conceal Murder, Prosecutor Says

A Washington state high school football player who disappeared on his way to practice last week is now accused of orchestrating his own disappearance to evade the murder charge of a 51-year-old man.

Gabriel Davies, a 16-year-old student at Olympia High School, appeared in court Tuesday for the first time since the bizarre story began last Wednesday, when frantic search efforts were launched. deployed to find him after he couldn’t make it to the soccer field. Many feared the worst after police revealed his car had been abandoned, with blood inside, and his shattered phone on the ground nearby.

Then, in a dizzying twist, police announced Davies was found safe late Thursday – but just hours later he was locked up on suspicion of murder.

Davies, along with another 16-year-old identified as Justin Jiwoon Yoon, now face first- and second-degree murder charges for allegedly killing a 51-year-old man a few yards from where Davies disappeared. nearly 40 miles away.

According to court documents, the unidentified victim was found near the town of Orting on Thursday morning with a gunshot wound and suspected stab wound in a grisly crime scene that police believe to be a stabbing wound. known to contain a significant amount of blood.

Investigators soon realized the man had previously had a relationship with Davies’ mother, according to a document that could have a cause. track and field athlete reported Davies and his mother had also previously lived with the man in his home.

Pierce County Deputy District Attorney Lisa Wagner alleged at the teen’s investigation Tuesday that the crime involved a “level of planning” and that Davies faked his disappearance to evade arrest.

Investigators are said to have cast doubt on the teenager’s disappearance after they found him late Thursday night, shirtless or shoes, but there was also no indication he had wandered off. outdoors for the past 36 hours.

“Davies initially told a detective that he could not remember what happened to him, or where he was during his disappearance,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “He later said he couldn’t say what happened to him because people would hurt him.”

While the details of the 51-year-old’s murder remain murky, prosecutors allege that Davies and Yoon wore gloves and dark clothing to break into the man’s home by using doggie door.

Davies’ father, cited in court documents, told investigators his son was approached by the victim’s cyclist friends from a “specific outlaw motor club.” , who threatened him with stealing something from the house.

He said Davies then recruited Yoon to help and the two set up a “conspiracy” to retrieve the unidentified item sought by the bike gang. After the 51-year-old victim was shot during the break-in, he said, cyclists found Davies and “carried him around, hitting him roughly before releasing him,” the lake said. the court wrote.

Davies and Yoon, both adults, are on $1 million bail. In addition to the murder charges, they also face first-degree burglary and two second-degree illegal weapons possession charges.

Attorneys for the youth were not immediately available for comment.