Images from in-car video (ICV) of Trinity Morley during her July 27 arrest (King County Prosecuting Attorney).
The parents of a teenager in Washington state became so concerned about her allegedly homicidal intentions after reading her journal that they called 911.
Trinity Morley, 19, was taken into custody on July 27 after being charged with the attempted murder of her ex-boyfriend. According to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime, prosecutors said that Morley”s parents told police that their daughter had a history of mental illness, was seeing a therapist regularly, and had been hospitalized for “self-harm incidents, including a suicide attempt.”
The teen’s parents also said they discovered that their daughter had tried to buy a shotgun and lied to them about it.
And then, they found her journal.
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According to the documents, Morley’s parents filed for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) for their daughter on July 18. Just over a week later, on July 27, Morley left the house, telling her parents that she was going out to “graffiti houses,” but prosecutors wrote that she had a more “sinister plan” in mind.
When Morley left the home, her parents went to her room to find her journal out of concern over her behavior. Prosecutors stated that Morley allegedly wrote about wanting to kill her ex-boyfriend and specifically wrote, “I have the gun now, three rounds of slug of buckshot. The shotgun is heavy. He told me that If I don’t hold it right, my arm will get blown off. I have 3 chances to get this right and I don’t want to resort to the knives.”
She also apologized to her current boyfriend, saying, “I’m sorry I lied to you” and “I’m so sorry to everyone about everything.”
According to prosecutors, Morley was unable to obtain the shotgun she purchased due to a “cool-down” period required by Washington state law. The ERPO also halted the final sale of the shotgun. Morley told her current boyfriend that she was purportedly receiving “threatening texts from an unknown number,” so he lent her his shotgun to use for self-defense.
Morley’s parents believed that their daughter was planning to kill her ex-boyfriend and then “attempt suicide by cop.” When Morley’s father tracked her phone, it reportedly showed her at her ex-boyfriend’s house.
Officers were dispatched to the home of Morley’s ex-boyfriend. According to court documents, a call came in to 911 at the same time — from the father of Morley’s ex-boyfriend. He reported that “there was a female standing in his backyard with a rifle dressed in all black and wearing a ski mask.” According to the court documents, the woman in black fled upon seeing the homeowner. Sheriff’s deputies reportedly followed the woman — Morley — to a nearby dock, where she reportedly told them she was “suicidal” and held her shotgun to her chin.
After a brief standoff, Morley dropped her firearm and a knife and deputies took her into custody.
Deputies read Morley her rights, and subsequently admitted that she had planned to kill her ex-boyfriend and then herself, according to the documents. She claimed that he sexually assaulted her, and after she reported the assault in May, charges were never filed. According to prosecutors, detectives closed the case after they determined the claims were “unfounded.”
Deputies reportedly took a soft approach to Morley during her arrest, though prosecutors reviewed the in-car video (ICV) and called Morley’s behavior “eerie.” According to prosecutors, the previously “suicidal” suspect was “smiling, rolling her eyes, and even chuckling” while deputies processed her arrest.
At one point, Morley told the deputy who was writing down the narrative of the arrest, “Pretty good story,” and “You’re quite the writer.”
Morley was taken to King County Jail, where she is being held on $500,000 bond. She is due in court on Oct. 2.
