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Christopher Charles Reyes (Washington State Department of Corrections).
The same day he was released from jail, a Washington state man allegedly beat a drug dealer to death with a 34-pound air compressor and chair.
Christopher Charles Reyes, 47, faces charges of first-degree murder in the death of William Akers, 56, court documents said.
The case came to light on Nov. 27 when police were dispatched to a residence in the 7400 block of South Oakes Street in Tacoma on a 911 call of “unknown trouble,” court documents said.
A friend told police he found Akers lying on his back in a pool of blood on the floor of a garage. An orange air compressor rested on top of the victim’s right arm. The friend told police the victim was “cold and stiff to the touch,” the documents said.
First responders arrived and declared Akers dead. Investigators noted bruises and swelling around his eyes and mouth, indicating he’d been beaten, authorities said.
Near the victim were a 34-pound air compressor and a chair. They were bloody and had hair and tissue on them. Both had been used to beat the victim, court documents said. One chair leg was bent to the point of almost snapping off, investigators said in court documents.
Detectives also noted that the victim had been wearing two pairs of pants. The outer pants had been pulled down, exposing a pair beneath. The left pants pocket had been pulled out as if someone had reached into it to empty the contents, court documents said.
Police found a small amount of cash on the floor near the victim, a drug dealer and user who lived off his Social Security, the probable cause statement said.
An autopsy found Akers had multiple skull fractures, a broken nose and ribs, and his lungs were punctured. On him, examiners found he suspected narcotics and $1,700 on him, officials said.
An anonymous tip on Dec. 4 ultimately led to a woman who’d been released from the same jail Reyes had been released from and allegedly had been with the suspect at the time of the killing, the documents said.
That woman told police that she and Reyes had been dropped off at the Oakes Street residence where the victim lived. There, she said she went to see the victim and said he gave her some narcotics. She told investigators she and the defendant smoked narcotics in her car, got high, then drove around and wound up back at the victim’s home, according to court documents.
As they smoked in the vehicle out front, Reyes allegedly said he was going to get more narcotics from the victim.
“She believed that he was going to buy more because he had money on him, but he also stated that he owed his ‘Fetty’ (fentanyl) dealer, so his intentions were unclear,” the probable cause statement said.
When the defendant returned to the car a short time later, the woman told investigators she thought she saw a small amount of blood on the defendant’s arm, investigators said in the documents.
When he got into her car, he said something to the effect of, “I think I killed that guy,” the documents said.
She said she and her sister then drove a Motel 6, and the two got away from him as soon as they could, investigators said.
Reyes was arrested on Monday. He allegedly admitted to meeting the woman when he left the jail, that he spent time with her and her sister, and also admitted to going to the house on South Oakes Street where the victim lived.
The defendant later called his mother and told her, “The only reason I got clean was because this happened. Remember when I told you something happened … this is what happened …” the document said.
A media representative for the Washington State Department of Corrections told Law&Crime in an email Reyes has a criminal history dating back to 2001 and confirmed he served prison time for an assault conviction in 2018 in Snohomish County. Court documents say Reyes returned to prison on Sept. 18 on a probation violation and was released on Sept. 25. He was again jailed on another probation violation on Nov. 14 before his release on the day of the murder, court documents said.
Reyes was being held at the Pierce County Jail with bail set at $2 million, online booking records show. He’s set to appear in court on Feb. 5.
