On the morning of July 3, 2021, a 21-year-old White/Caucasian female named Kayla Marie Kulow was left at the ambulance bay of Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington. She had sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound to the head. The individual who dropped her off, later identified as her boyfriend, Edward Jerome Donelan, fled the scene immediately after leaving her.
Kayla, a young mother to a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, was transferred to Tacoma General Hospital for a higher level of care but tragically succumbed to her injuries and passed away on July 8, 2021.
The investigation into Kayla's death was initially handled by the Puyallup Police Department but was soon turned over to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department when it was determined the shooting likely occurred in Midland or the Parkland area where the couple lived. Detectives quickly identified Donelan as a person of interest. When questioned, he provided conflicting accounts of what had transpired. Initially, he told a medic at the hospital that he had just returned home and found Kayla with the gunshot wound. He later claimed to investigators that gang members were responsible for the shooting, stating that an SUV had driven off right after he found her. However, investigators found no evidence, such as shell casings or blood, at the location he indicated.
The breakthrough in the case came after a two-month-long investigation. A friend of Donelan's came forward and told detectives that Donelan had confessed to him about the shooting. This confession, coupled with the inconsistencies in his stories, led to his arrest in September 2021. He was initially charged with second-degree murder. Court documents revealed allegations that the shooting occurred during an argument over their relationship. The narrative presented was that Donelan took a pistol from Kulow, and it discharged when she pushed the gun away from her face.
Ultimately, the Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Kayla's manner of death as "undetermined," citing a lack of sufficient evidence to classify it definitively as an accident, homicide, or suicide. In May 2023, Edward Donelan pleaded guilty to amended charges of second-degree manslaughter and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm as part of a plea negotiation. Citing Donelan's extensive criminal history, which included five prior felony convictions, a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The sentence also included a mandate for him to participate in drug, alcohol, and domestic violence counseling services.
