‘Complete disregard for human life’: Everett man charged in murder

Published 4:58 pm Tuesday, April 5, 2022

EVERETT — The suspect in a fatal Everett stabbing had a long history of violence against his family, including an attack just days before he was accused of killing his sister’s fiance, prosecutors allege.

Three days before Chechemeni Paulis, 24, allegedly killed Joven Deitas and stabbed his sister twice, he attacked one of his other sisters, according to murder charges filed Friday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

On March 12, Paulis reportedly swung a piece of wood at the sister’s head. She put up her arm in defense. Then the defendant grabbed a knife and tried to stab the sister, according to court documents. But Deitas, 26, wrestled the knife away from Paulis.

The sister called 911 after the alleged attack. Their father got upset and kicked her out of their apartment in the 3100 block of Oakes Avenue.

Police couldn’t find Paulis that day.

Three days later, one sister heard Deitas scream from the apartment’s living room.

“Help me!” he reportedly yelled. “Your brother just stabbed me.”

When she ran screaming into the living room, she found Paulis standing over Deitas, gripping a knife with the blade pointed down and smiling, according to court papers. Deitas died moments later.

Paulis reportedly told her to stop screaming. He said something along the lines of, “What are you doing? Don’t get close to him. Don’t touch him. He’s already dead. Look at him. Look at him. Is that what you want?”

He then allegedly stabbed both her and Deitas’ dead body. The sister suffered two stab wounds, one in the back and one in her belly. She remained in the hospital Friday, where she was expected to recover from her injuries, according to police.

Another sister was in the apartment at the time with her two small children. She reportedly hid in her father’s bedroom, knowing Paulis wouldn’t attack him.

Paulis reportedly fled the apartment, taking a bus to Lynnwood. In the 3400 block of Smith Avenue, police found a knife matching the one used in the stabbing, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged the defendant with second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

The March 12 incident was one of several violent episodes that had been escalating in recent months, according to the charges.

On New Year’s Eve in 2018, Paulis threw a chair at a moving car, leading to an active misdemeanor case, the court papers say.

In October 2020, Paulis was accused of attacking a man with a broken bottle outside the Everett apartment.

In January 2022, he reportedly came at his sister with a knife. When another sister got the knife away, Paulis came back with a piece of wood and broke the first sister’s wrist with it. She didn’t report it to police because she convinced herself it wouldn’t happen again, according to the charges.

On Feb. 20, Paulis allegedly tried to stab another one of his sisters in the apartment. She fled and called 911. Paulis was arrested and bail was set at $25,000. He posted that bail and was released from the Snohomish County Jail. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged him with second-degree assault in the February incident.

Paulis “has a complete disregard for human life,” deputy prosecutor Audrey Majkut wrote in the charging papers. “He had numerous occasions where he would have killed another but for intervening circumstances.”

That said, Paulis has no felony or misdemeanor convictions, according to court records.

He was in jail Tuesday with bail set at $2 million.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.