Competency evaluation ordered for Tacoma man accused of fatally stabbing stepfather
A Tacoma man has been charged after a bloody stabbing on Tuesday left his stepfather dead.
Prosecutors charged Gaven Lee Flowers, 28, with first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Flowers stabbed his stepfather 18 times.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Flowers’ behalf during his arraignment on Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court. Deputy prosecuting attorney Dalton Smith requested a competency evaluation be ordered as the state believes Flowers is exhibiting severe mental health issues.
Smith said that Flowers had previously been committed to a psychiatric hospital and that his mother, the victim’s wife, is very concerned about his behavior.
Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille agreed with the state and ordered Flowers to be held at the Pierce County Jail with no bail, pending the evaluation.
The identification and cause of the victim’s death has not yet been released, pending confirmation from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office. The defendant is the son of Tacoma Public Utilities director Jackie Flowers, who has taken an indefinite personal leave, a TPU spokesperson told The News Tribune on Friday.
Charging details
A Tacoma police sergeant was notified on about 12:48 p.m. Tuesday that a man arrived at the department’s Northeast Substation to report a murder in the 4500 block of Heron Ridge Drive Northeast. The man was identified as Flowers, according to charging documents.
Flowers told police he wanted to report a “homicide by self-defense.” When asked if the homicide involved him, Flowers allegedly said, “Yes.” Smith said during Thursday’s hearing that there was no evidence to support Flowers’ self-defense claim.
While an officer was reading Flowers’ Miranda rights, the defendant reportedly said, “I want to talk to give you as much info to go there and then I want a lawyer,” prosecutors wrote. Flowers said an incident with a knife happened at about 9:50 a.m. in the third-floor bathroom.
While Flowers was being detained, an officer observed “fresh injuries from today.” There were also bandages on Flowers’ left ring and middle fingers, prosecutors wrote.
Officers at the scene noted a “considerable amount” of blood on the bathroom floor and a dead man in the shower. The man was identified as Flowers’ stepfather, documents show.
There were blood drops on the carpet in one of the bedrooms. There was also blood on the sheets and a pillow on the bed. Prosecutors wrote there were visible puncture wounds to the man’s chest and neck, which investigators believed to be consistent with being stabbed.
Prosecutors allege Flowers might have tried to clean up the blood on the bathroom floor with a white shag bathmat or carpet that was placed in the shower. Police also found bloody items in a tub that were soaking in water inside another third-floor bathroom.
The victim’s wife and Flowers’ mother said she left the house between 6 to 7 a.m. When she left, her husband was drinking coffee and reading the news in bed, prosecutors wrote. She also said she did not speak to Flowers when she left. She said she tried to contact her husband during the day but did not get a response back.
Flowers’ mother said her son was diagnosed with “psychosis, non-descript” when he was being held in the psychiatric hospital in 2021 for almost two months, prosecutors wrote. She said Flowers did not have a job and was mostly in his room downstairs.
She told detectives that Flowers was paranoid and thought the victim was monitoring him through his hearing aids. He also believed the victim was trying to poison him and turn his mother against him, prosecutors wrote. Flowers’ mother said her husband rarely spoke to her son. The victim was also afraid of what Flowers might be capable of.
Flowers’ mother told detectives at one point they hid the knives in the house because of their fears.
Detectives found a 911 call placed in March 2024 where the victim allegedly was crying and saying his son is very disturbed and going to hurt his mother. The call log reported that the mother assured dispatch it was verbal and not physical violence. Flowers’ mom said she did not expect further problems, prosecutors wrote.
The call log stated the stepfather was intoxicated and believed Flowers might hurt him, documents show. Officers told him there was no crime at the time.
When detectives spoke to Flowers in his holding cell at the jail, they described him as “calm and pleasant.” He had no issues with them taking photos of his clothing, torso and hands, prosecutors wrote.
As detectives were looking at the fresh injuries on Flowers’ fingers, he allegedly said, “Just want to let you know these are from a misfire today,” prosecutors wrote. When Flowers was informed he was being charged with murder, detectives said it did not phase him and he just said, “OK.”
Detectives believe Flowers allegedly started attacking his stepfather while he was in bed. Then the attack moved to the bathroom “where it was more vicious.” His stepfather was placed in the shower, and Flowers allegedly tried to clean up the blood on the floor with a white rug, court records show.
During a search of the home, detectives found a shirt, pants and shoes covered in suspected blood in Flowers’ basement bathroom. There was also a hand towel that allegedly had blood on it, prosecutors wrote. In the bathroom, detectives found bloody tissues and bandages in the trash can.
Detectives found a knife on the counter of the third-floor bathroom, which was hidden inside a vacuum crevice tool. The knife’s tip appeared to have been broken, prosecutors wrote.
A doctor at the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office said there were stab wounds in the victim’s back, head and torso. Two of them were on his hands, which appeared to be defensive wounds, documents show.
Flowers does not have any known criminal convictions in or outside of Washington, records show.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Friday morning to include information regarding the defendant’s relationship to the director of Tacoma Public Utilities.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
