Law enforcement task force kills man in Kent wanted for murder

A law enforcement task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service fatally shot a man in Kent on Wednesday, June 1 when it attempted to arrest him on a murder warrant out of California.

At about 5:45 p.m., members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force — which includes officers from the Seattle Police Department and other regional jurisdictions — attempted to serve a warrant at the apartment residence of a fugitive wanted for murder in the 3500 block of South 222nd Place in Kent, just east of Military Road South, according to Seattle Police.

A Seattle Police detective, a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office detective and a deputy U.S. Marshal shot and killed the man after he reportedly came after them with a knife, according to Seattle Police.

“Per initial information gathered from the scene, task force members knocked and identified themselves as law enforcement,” according to Seattle Police. “When the suspect opened the door, he charged out at officers holding a knife.”

Law enforcement and Puget Sound Fire personnel attempted medical aid but the suspect died at the scene.

Marshall Curtis Jones, 27, died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the King County Medical Examier’s Office.

Seattle Police’s Force Investigation Team will investigate the officer-involved shooting. Representatives of the Office of Police Accountability and the Office of Inspector General responded to the scene. Per policy, the Seattle Police detective will be placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing.

The Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force is led by the U.S. Marshals Service Western District of Washington and it includes 27 federal, state and local law enforcement partnering agencies. The task force specializes in locating and arresting violent fugitives for offenses that include, but not limited to: homicide; assault; sex crimes; failure to register as a sex offender; firearm violations and federal probation violations.

The Kent Police Department is not a member of the task force. Local members include the Des Moines Police and the King County Sheriff’s Office. The Washington State Patrol also is a member.

Man wanted for murder

The officers were attempting to arrest Jones for allegedly killing Alexis Gabe, 24, in Antioch, California. Gabe, of Oakley, California, has been missing since Jan. 26 and a murder charge was recently filed against Jones, her former boyfriend.

“Due to the information that has been yielded during our long and intensive investigation, I must announce at this point, that we believe Alexis Gabe is the victim of a homicide,” said Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard, according to video from a Thursday, June 2 press conference in California.

Detectives from the Antioch and Oakley police departments have worked on the case since Gabe’s disappearance.

Beard said Jones had associates in Washington and detectives determined he was staying with an associate at a Kent apartment complex. He said Jones left California for Washington within days after the disappearance of Gabe. He briefly returned to California before going back to Washington.

Beard said detectives compiled enough evidence to refer the case to Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton, who filed a murder charge against Jones.

“A wire and electronic interception of Jones’ cellular phone concluded on May 24,” according to the Contra Costa District Attorney press release. “Along with the phone intercept recordings, surveillance footage, cell data, and DNA evidence, investigators made a criminal referral to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office on May 25.”

Beard said that police found a cellphone case near Jones’ home in Antioch. Detectives also found video evidence to connect Jones to Gabe’s car where it was dumped and used GPS information from her car to place it previously in the driveway of the home where Jones lived.

Members of Gabe’s family found her blue Infinity coupe about a mile from her home on Trenton Street near Carrington Drive in Oakley the next day after she was missing, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney. The keys were still inside, and the vehicle was unlocked. Shortly thereafter, the Oakley Police Department started an investigation into the highly suspicious circumstances of Gabe’s disappearance.

Jones became a focus of the investigation – which culminated in the wire and electronic interception of his cellular phone. Jones and Gabe had reportedly broken up in November 2021 but saw each other from time to time, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney.

Jones confirmed to investigators that he and Gabe were together at his home on Cedar Point Way in Antioch until 9 o’clock on the night she went missing, but that he witnessed her leaving his residence in the blue Infinity coupe she arrived in earlier.

“It’s been an emotionally wrenching time for the family, friends, and community,” said Becton, the District Attorney. “I, along with the police agencies who have worked tirelessly to bring justice to the Gabe family, wish to express our deepest condolences for the loss of their beloved daughter. My office will continue to seek justice in finding Alexis so her family can have a sense of closure to this tragic loss of life.”