In the early morning hours of January 28, 2019, the life of 19-year-old Cassandra Scaff, a White female, was tragically cut short in a Puyallup, Washington home. The quiet of the morning was shattered around 4:25 a.m. by the sound of a gunshot, a sound that awakened the mother of 26-year-old Jordan Eaton. Moments later, Eaton entered his mother's bedroom to confess that he had just shot Scaff.
Following the shooting, a chaotic scene unfolded.
Eaton demanded the keys to his mother's car, a request she refused. His mother then witnessed him dragging Scaff's body from the bed to the floor, removing her clothing in an apparent search for the gunshot wound. Eaton eventually fled the house on foot. When sheriff's deputies arrived at the residence on 71st Avenue East, they found Scaff's body in a bedroom, partially covered by a towel.
The investigation quickly identified Jordan Eaton as the prime suspect. It was soon discovered that he had stolen a GMC van from his father's employer and driven towards the Canadian border. The abandoned van was later found near Blaine, Washington, and surveillance footage confirmed that Eaton had crossed into Canada. His freedom, however, was short-lived. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police located and arrested him at a medical facility in Surrey, British Columbia, where he was found with a handgun and bloody clothing.
Eaton, who had been in a relationship with Scaff for about five years, was extradited back to the United States to face charges. Friends of Scaff described their relationship as abusive and violent. Text messages sent by Eaton just hours before the shooting suggested a troubled state of mind, with messages like, "I just gotta go cause I cause nothing but pain for myself and others." His parents had previously sought a protection order against him in 2016, citing needs for mental health, anger management, and substance abuse rehabilitation. In November 2021, Jordan Eaton pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and theft of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison. In his guilty plea, Eaton claimed he was intoxicated and that the gun went off unintentionally.
