In the early morning hours of June 28, 2018, the life of 46-year-old Evangeline Dasalla, a Black/African American female, was tragically cut short in her Auburn, Washington home. The quiet of the night was shattered when her 22-year-old son placed a harrowing 911 call from an adjoining house, reporting the violent turn of events that had just unfolded. When police arrived at the residence on U Street, they discovered Ms.
Dasalla deceased in the master bedroom from a single gunshot wound to the head.
The investigation quickly centered on her live-in boyfriend of nine years, Kenneth Thomas, who was 48 years old at the time. Thomas, a Louisiana native and military veteran who had been designated a sharpshooter, confessed to shooting Dasalla. He told detectives that he had been under significant stress due to financial issues and unemployment, while Dasalla was working. He also claimed to have bipolar disorder and had not been taking his medication for a month prior to the incident.
Thomas provided a bizarre motive for the killing, telling investigators that he believed Dasalla had "put voodoo on him" and had cheated on him multiple times. He claimed that just before the shooting, he saw a silhouette of someone on a hill behind their home and that Dasalla had told him a sniper was outside. Feeling betrayed and fearing for his life, he retrieved his 9mm Ruger from the nightstand and shot her once in the back of the head as she held only her cellphone. Following his confession, Kenneth Thomas was arrested and charged with second-degree murder with a domestic violence enhancement. He was subsequently held on $2 million bail.
