Prosecutors charge man who left shooting victim at Puyallup hospital with murder
A man who allegedly left his girlfriend at a Puyallup hospital with a gunshot wound in July has been charged in her death.
Prosecutors charged Edward Donelan, 23, with two counts of second-degree murder Thursday for the death of 21-year-old Kayla Kulow. Charging documents allege Donelan left the woman on the ground at Good Samaritan Hospital the morning of July 3 with a bullet in her head.
Donelan pleaded not guilty at arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court Thursday and his bail was set at $1 million.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Donelan on Wednesday after conducting interviews with Donelan, his father and a witness who spoke to Donelan after he left Kulow at the hospital, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause.
The witness described to police how Donelan came to his door after dropping off Kulow and allegedly told him, “I (expletive) shot her dude,” according to the probable cause statement.
In interviews with investigators, Donelan described a different series of events.
Charging papers made these allegations about what happened:
Hospital surveillance video shows a man later identified as Donelan backing a black sports car into an ambulance bay July 3. Donelan placed Kulow on the ground while nurses arrived.
A medic at the scene told police Donelan said, “I just got home and found her like this,” as he was dropping her off, according to the court document. Donelan drove away.
Donelan and his father later came to the Puyallup Police Department station, and the father said his son was ready to talk. In the interview, Donelan told police he was working on his car at the home where he lived with Kulow when she came up to him in the driveway and started talking about breaking up.
Donelan told police he drove up to the house to try to collect his belongings but was locked out. He said he thought Kulow was walking up the driveway but could not see her. After several minutes, he said he heard what he thought was a gunshot or fireworks. Donelan said he found Kulow lying on the ground bleeding and saw a white SUV driving away.
According to the probable cause statement, Donelan told police he was afraid the people who shot Kulow were following him when he brought her to the hospital. He said he was also afraid he would be arrested for bringing her to the hospital “in that condition.”
Donelan told police he went to a friend’s house after he dropped off Kulow.
Prosecutors wrote that Donelan brought detectives to where he said Kulow had been shot. Several detectives searched the area but did not find any used bullet casings or bloodstains.
Detectives noted that Donelan told them the white SUV drove north past the victim, which would have been on Kulow’s left side, but she was shot on the right side of her head.
On Sept. 2, after the investigation was turned over to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, detectives located the friend Donelan told police he contacted after dropping off Kulow.
The witness told deputies Donelan pounded on his door with dried blood on his chin and neck. According to the probable cause statement, Donelan told the witness he shot Kulow.
Prosecutors wrote that Donelan told the witness he’d found out Kulow had been cheating on him. After an argument inside the house where they lived, Kulow began walking down the road with some of her belongings. Donelan drove to her and convinced her to get in the car, where they continued to argue.
Donelan told the witness he was holding Kulow by the collar with both hands, and he had a gun in one of his hands.
According to the probable cause statement, Donelan said Kulow tried to push the gun out of her face and when she did, “the gun just went off.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 1:41 PM.
