LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A Snohomish County teenager allegedly gave an 18-year-old drugs, bragged to his co-workers at Dairy Queen about sexually assaulting her and then hid her body in a plastic container, according to police.
The county prosecutor charged Brian Varela, 19, with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree rape on Friday.
>> Related: Police: Man texts ‘LOL’ to group text as woman dies from overdose
According to court documents, Varela hosted a party in early February inside a Lynnwood mobile home where he lives with a friend.
%
%
Alyssa Noceda and Varela did drugs together, police say. Noceda had snorted a line of crushed Percocet pills, and Varela then gave her a "dab" of liquid THC. She then passed out.
Varela did nothing to help. Police said that, instead, he took lewd photos of her. Then, Varela allegedly sent a group text to his co-workers with photos that showed an unconscious woman. According to police statements, the message with the photos said, "LOL I think she od’d, still breathing.”
According to court papers, Varela was "too tired" to take her to the emergency room and went to bed.
The next morning, Varela tried to use Noceda's finger to gain access to her phone. When he found it, he created a post on her Snapchat account. The post gave the impression that she had run away from home, which she had a history of doing, according to court documents.
Scroll down to continue reading.
More news from KIRO 7
- Man killed in apparent road rage on I-5
- Van repeatedly runs into school bus on I-5 in downtown Seattle
- Lawsuit: 2-year-old reportedly drank beverage contaminated by Starbucks barista's blood
- Tentative agreement reached with Seattle school bus drivers
- NB State Route 99 blocked in South Seattle after semi, box truck crash
Then he showed his roommate Noceda's body. Rather than calling police, Varela went to work at his job at Mukilteo Dairy Queen. He then tossed Noceda's phone into a wooded area behind the store.
%
%
While at work, he essentially bragged about the woman dying while they were having sex, court papers say. His co-workers encouraged him to take the woman to a hospital, but he didn't.
When Varela got home that night, according to his roommate's statement, he forced Noceda's body into the plastic container. Varela admitted to police that he planned to bury the body.
After seeing information on social media about Noceda being missing, Varela's assistant manager reported the incident to police.
Varela was arrested on investigation of rape, manslaughter and homicide by controlled substance on Feb. 6. Varela showed up for his first court appearance nearly five days after Noceda's overdose.
The courtroom was so packed that the doors could barely close, and extra deputies had to line up around the seats.
%
%
"So this is a courtroom," Judge Tam Bui had to remind the crowd. "So I'm going to ask folks to refrain from either verbalizing their response or nonverbal conduct, so conduct yourselves appropriately in the courtroom."
During the hearing, the deputy prosecutor said that the reported actions were callous and showed a shocking disregard for human life.
Authorities are concerned that if he were to be bailed out of jail, that he would flee. He told detectives — in conjunction with phone messages found in the investigation — he considered leaving to go to Mexico. His bail is set at $500,000.
More news from KIRO 7
- Man killed in apparent road rage on I-5
- Van repeatedly runs into school bus on I-5 in downtown Seattle
- Lawsuit: 2-year-old reportedly drank beverage contaminated by Starbucks barista's blood
- Tentative agreement reached with Seattle school bus drivers
- NB State Route 99 blocked in South Seattle after semi, box truck crash
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/WG5JTBQMKVYO2TMIQAAA2I3AYU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/IOFZ5P4EE6B6GRP36IC6AHGNOU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/Y6GCARSGRJHRLDJNL46FOOUWAY.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/QWMA7B742VBMFOXMXS2YPD7QHI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/ONGOLJAW6FBDXEOH5DAATAO5DY.jpeg)