Sophia Stutzman, a 24-year-old White/Caucasian woman, was found in the early hours of December 12, 2018, lying face down on a road behind the Costco on Tyee Drive Southwest in Tumwater, Washington. A pathologist determined she died from a gunshot wound to the chest, with the bullet entering just beneath her left collarbone, piercing her left lung and aorta, and exiting through her right arm. Investigators documented the discovery around 3:20 a.m., setting in motion a homicide investigation that would soon focus on a man she had visited hours earlier.
Court records later reconstructed her final evening: on December 11 she went to meet Matthew J. McCollian at his Everett apartment, exchanging increasingly alarmed text messages with her mother expressing fear and a desire to leave. Cell-tower data showed both Stutzman’s and McCollian’s phones traveling south on Interstate 5 during the night, with McCollian’s phone pinging near the Tumwater Costco around 3:15 a.m. Stutzman’s phone was later recovered from a garbage can in Renton. Forensic testing found semen consistent with McCollian’s DNA, along with DNA from another, unidentified male.
Physical evidence tied the fatal shooting to a white Toyota Camry that McCollian had rented. After he reported the car stolen on December 15, officers quickly located it; the interior showed fire damage, two gas cans, and soot consistent with an intentionally set, oxygen-deprived blaze. Blood matching Stutzman’s DNA was found on the glove box and surrounding passenger-side surfaces. Investigators also recovered a spent 9mm casing, a bullet lodged in the passenger-side B-pillar, and a seatbelt with a bullet impact—evidence consistent with a single shot fired from the driver’s side toward a victim seated in the front passenger seat.
Within days of the killing, Tumwater police announced an arrest in the case. On December 20, 2018, authorities stated that a suspect was in custody in connection with Stutzman’s homicide; reporting at the time identified the victim as a 24-year-old woman found near the roadway in the 5500 block of Tyee Drive Southwest, behind the Costco. Early news coverage described the discovery and the opening of the homicide investigation.
In March 2019, a Thurston County jury found McCollian guilty of second-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and second-degree arson. The verdict came after a short deliberation, and prosecutors emphasized the convergence of digital, forensic, and ballistic evidence. The Washington Court of Appeals later affirmed his convictions, remanding only for resentencing adjustments in light of State v. Blake; the opinion recounted the timeline, forensic findings, and vehicle evidence that linked McCollian to Stutzman’s death.
