Woman stabbed to death in quiet Fife neighborhood

FIFE, Wash. — Fife police say a man stabbed a 42-year-old woman to death Sunday afternoon.

It happened in the 4000 block of 61st Avenue East around 2 p.m.

Police arrested a 54-year-old man and booked him into the Pierce County Jail on possible second-degree murder charges.

People said the neighborhood is family friendly and quiet, and said they can’t remember any trouble.

The police chief said it’s been years since they’ve seen a homicide in town.

“It was pretty alarming, I was kind of shocked to hear somebody got murdered,” said Saniem Sroeuy, a neighbor.

Fife Police Chief, Pete Fischer, said the first 911 calls came for reports of a “physical altercation.”

When officers got here they found a 42-year-old woman inside.

“(She) was gravely injured. We did some medical aid to try and treat the victim, they were unsuccessful, however, and she died here at the scene as a result of being stabbed,” Fisher said.

The chief said they found the weapon in the house, and the suspect who police believe stabbed her - the 54-year-old man - was still at the scene.

“It’s devastating. I  think everybody in the neighborhood was kind of shocked by this whole thing,” said Russell Bowman, another neighbor.

He told KIRO7 he’s never seen the man before, but he and other neighbors say the people who lived in the home were fairly new to the neighborhood.

“They were renting the place. I know pretty much every face in this neighborhood but they were the one house I didn't really know too well or hear from,” Bowman said.

The Fife police chief said this stabbing was not a random crime.

“Any relationship between the two?” KIRO7’s Deedee Sun asked.

“We're still working on that. We're confident the victim and suspect knew each other,” Fisher said.

Several neighbors said a mom and her daughter lived in the house. Another neighbor said a female roommate also lived there with them.

But as of Sunday night, it still was not clear who all lived in the home, or why someone had reason to kill the 42-year-old woman.

Cox Media Group