BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A Whatcom County Superior Court jury found a 23-year-old Everson man not guilty of 2nd-degree murder and of 1st-degree murder following an 8-day trial and 2 days of deliberation. The charges were subsequently dismissed with prejudice.
Ethan Knight was out of custody awaiting trial since January 24, 2022.
According to a probable cause statement prepared by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and filed in the court by prosecutors, a woman at an Everson residence called 911 on January 6, 2022, and told the call receiver that her son had shot her ex-husband and he was dead. She said the victim was lying on a bed while she and her son were waiting for law enforcement in the living room and the weapon was in the living room.
Several WCSO deputies arrived at the scene and an Everson Police officer placed the son in handcuffs while the deputies “conducted a safety sweep of the residence.” Deputies located the victim on the bed and the son’s firearm on a dining room table. The son told deputies he had shot the victim and then made the weapon safe.
Click for more information
Click for more information
WCSO detectives arrived and, after reading the son and his mother their Miranda rights, asked for their statements. Both chose not to provide a statement without an attorney present.
Initially held on $1 million bond or $100,000 cash bail, Knight was released on $25,000 cash bail on January 24, 2022, after details of a self-defense argument were filed with the court.
Knight’s attorney advised the court that after Knight was booked into the jail and a probable cause affidavit was filed with the court, they learned of and advised the prosecuting attorney of a smartphone recording of the incident. It was not clarified in the motion whether the recording was audio and/or video and what it provided.
Knight’s mother had told an investigator, with her lawyer present, her ex-husband had been visiting from Michigan, where he lived after having remarried. During his stay there was “increasing and uncontrolled alcohol use and belligerent and aggressive conduct sometimes resulting in physical confrontations, particularly with Ethan.” On the night of the shooting, Knight had reportedly gone to his mother more than once asking her to call 911 because her ex-husband was acting aggressively. The last time he had a gun in his hand, asking her again to call 911.
About this time and unknown to the mother, Knight had begun making the recording on her smartphone.
Under Washington law, prosecutors must prove the absence of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a murder verdict.
Discover more from Whatcom News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.