Community Police & Fire

Both victims found following house fire died of gunshot wounds

Both victims found following an April 8 fire on the 15600 block of 14th Avenue NW died due to gunshot wounds to the head, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office announced on Monday, April 28.

The office ruled the deaths of Oliverio Huitron-Rosalez, 64, and Alejandro Huitron Campos, 31, both of Gig Harbor, as homicides.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deputy Carly Cappetto said the investigation is ongoing and no suspects are in custody.

Both were found following a fire at the home near Crescent Lake and the Kitsap County line.

In a video posted immediately after the fire, Cappetto noted that neighbors said the home was “newly rented.” She said shortly after the fire that at least one of the victims “did not die from the explosion or fire and it was not a natural cause of death.”

Victim of Fox Island homicide identified

Separately, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office also recently announced the identity of a woman killed on Fox Island on April 20.

Sophie Tinney, 27, of Fox Island died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to the Medical Examiner on April 25. Investigators ruled her death a homicide.

Last week, Pierce County prosecutors charged Lars Eugene Nelson, 29, with second-degree murder in Tinney’s death. Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies wrote in charging documents that Nelson reported Tinney’s death as a suicide, but that an investigation showed that be impossible.