GRANITE FALLS — Police say they have not drawn any conclusions about last month’s fist fight outside a Granite Falls gas station that ended in a death.
Detectives were told that Jeffrey D. Watson, 55, of Granite Falls, was punched in the head and fell to the ground. He was unconscious as witnesses called for help around 6 p.m. Sept. 30. He died at a local hospital 10 days later.
The man who fought Watson, a 25-year-old from Lynnwood, spoke with investigators. The man has not been arrested, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said Wednesday.
The man told police that he had never met Watson. He claimed Watson had been staring at him at the Shell station on W. Stanley Street. The man alleges that Watson yelled at him, and then Watson pulled a gun and pointed it at his chest, which prompted the punch.
The man told police that after the punch, Watson “hit the ground hard and did not move,” Ireton said. Watson had his revolver holstered when police arrived, she said. No surveillance cameras captured the fight.
The Oct. 10 death was ruled a homicide due to head injuries, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office. Homicide is a medical determination that means someone died as the result of another’s actions. It is not a legal finding.
Detectives are still talking to witnesses. They have not ruled out the claims of self-defense, Ireton said. When they close the case, it will be forwarded to prosecutors, who will determine whether the death involved a potential crime and whether charges should be filed, she said. That process can take the better part of a year.
“It’s still under investigation,” Ireton said. “We’re still trying to determine what happened.”
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.
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