MARYSVILLE — During a two-hour standoff last week, a Tacoma man put a knife to the throat of his girlfriend’s 1-year-old son and dangled the boy out of window by a cord tied around the child’s neck, according to court documents released Tuesday.
Cory A. Edmon, 27, was shot and killed by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy after Edmon made threats to kill his hostage, police said. The boy was treated for minor injuries, although he could need additional medical treatment in the future, Everett police spokesman Sgt. Boyd Bryant said. Everett is investigating the shooting.
Edmon was shot twice inside his girlfriend’s duplex early Friday.
The sheriff’s office, Everett police and Marysville police held a joint news conference Tuesday afternoon to answer questions about a search warrant filed in Everett District Court on Tuesday.
According to the warrant, Latawnya Jones, 25, called police shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday to report that her boyfriend was trying to force his way into her home in the 6300 block of 73rd Place NE. She and one of her two children fled after Edmon barged inside.
Marysville hostage negotiators called Edmon, who threatened to kill himself and the child, police reported. At one point, Edmon came to a second-story window and held a knife to the boy’s throat, according to court documents.
The sheriff’s emergency response team was called to the duplex. One member radioed to detectives at the scene that Edmon was hanging the boy out a window by a rope.
According to the warrant, four members of the team broke in through the front door after Edmon threatened to kill the child.
Deputy Steve McDonald, a member of the team, told detectives that deputies found the man in an upstairs bathroom with the child. Edmon was holding the boy with a ligature around his neck, according to McDonald. A deputy whose name hasn’t been released fired his handgun twice at Edmon, court documents said.
The deputy, a seven-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, remains on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Police on Tuesday refused to discuss further details about what happened inside the duplex. They also would not say whether the shooting was justified.
"That will be decided when the investigation is complete," sheriff’s Chief Kevin Prentiss said.
They did say Edmon’s actions and his threats led police to believe that he intended to kill the child.
"Confronted with that situation, (police officers) feel a call to action," Bryant said.
The Everett Police Department is leading the investigation into the shooting as part of the Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team. The team is called out for officer-involved shootings with the goal of providing an objective review of the incident from an outside agency, Bryant said.
The results of the investigation, likely to come within the next two months, will be handed over to prosecutors, who will determine whether a crime has been committed.
Hours after the shooting, Edmon’s girlfriend questioned the actions of police. She told The Herald on Friday morning she didn’t believe Edmon would have hurt her child. She said she didn’t see Edmon hang the boy out the window.
"The police took it too far. They didn’t have to kill him," Jones said.
She just wanted Edmon to leave, she said.
Police also were called to the duplex March 20 for a disturbance between Edmon and Jones. He fled the residence but was chased down and arrested for investigation of domestic violence, Marysville Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said.
Jones bailed him out of jail on March 24 — less than 48 hours before he was shot and killed, Lamoureux said.
Lamoureux didn’t know whether there was a restraining order against Edmon, who had other run-ins with police over the years and was convicted of first-degree robbery in 1995.
Police recovered a knife, drugs and drug paraphernalia from the duplex, along with a flash-bang canister, bullet fragments and a flash bang canister that was used when police entered. Bryant would not say if the knife was the same one allegedly held to the boy’s throat.
"As the case concludes, fairly more sad details will come out," Bryant said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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