Man charged in fatal shooting of Puyallup father claims self-defense
A Seattle man accused of killing a Puyallup father on Sunday contends he was defending himself from a home invasion.
Prosecutors charged Moses Levin Karovsky, 24, with two counts of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Tyriek Assante Patterson, 36. Karovsky surrendered himself to Seattle police about two days after the shooting. A Pierce County deputy later took him into custody.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Karovsky’s behalf during his arraignment Friday afternoon. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille set bail at $500,000. Prosecutors requested a $1 million bail, while Karovsky’s attorney, Igor Shapiro, asked his client be released on his personal recognizance.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Riley Holloway cited concerns for community safety in the state’s request for a $1 million bail. Holloway alleged Karovsky fled from the shooting scene, and law enforcement saw him driving past multiple patrol cars.
“The evidence suggests he collected the expended shell casings so that ... suggests that that was so he wouldn’t be identified,” Holloway said.
He added the firearm used in the shooting has not been found.
Shapiro argued Karovsky was not a flight risk because he voluntarily surrendered to police. He said Karovsky acted on instinct and was scared following the shooting.
“He had just survived a violent home invasion at four o’clock in the morning, and the first thing he did was retain counsel,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said Karovsky was invited to the house where the shooting took place and was aware of alleged threats from Patterson threatening to beat him.
“Moses retreated to the bathroom. The door was kicked in around him. He fired from inside a locked bathroom as two men forced their way through the door,” Shapiro said.
After McInvaille set the $500,000 bail, Shapiro reiterated the self-defense arguments. When McInvaille asked if there was mention in the probable cause documents of anybody else present during the incident having or wielding a firearm other than Karovsky, Shapiro replied, “No.”
Details of the shooting as described in charging documents
Deputies were dispatched at 4:20 a.m. to an apartment complex on 121st Street Court East near Summit View for a shooting. A woman at the front door was with a child and yelled that someone was shot inside. The woman was reportedly Patterson’s girlfriend who lived at the apartment, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Charging documents show a 2013 Toyota Avalon drove around a corner quickly and accelerated out of the complex. The driver of the car was later identified as Karovsky.
Patterson was found lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds in the torso, chest and leg. Central Pierce fire crews took him to an ambulance, and they later advised he died, documents show.
Another person in the apartment told deputies he and Patterson were best friends, and they came to the apartment to surprise his girlfriend for her birthday, documents show. When they went upstairs to her bedroom, they saw a man jumping out of the bed. The witness said the man ran to the bathroom, a struggle ensued, and the man shot through the door, striking Patterson. The witness was grazed. The man ran off following the shooting.
The witness told another detective that Patterson’s girlfriend texted them to come over. They could not get in since the door was locked, and Patterson used a key to unlock the door. They heard someone running upstairs, went to the primary bedroom and saw the man going into the bathroom. Documents show the witness said Patterson was pushing on the door and yelling at the man, asking who was there, but the man did not answer. The shooting occurred while Patterson was pushing on the door, according to the witness.
Documents show the girlfriend told deputies the man in her room was her coworker, Karovsky.
Before the shooting, she was out with her friends to celebrate her birthday. She could not remember how she got home.
A friend of the girlfriend told detectives she picked her up from the Hard Luck Bar near Parkland, and they went to Patterson’s home before going to the girlfriend’s. The friend said Karovsky arrived at the apartment with a garage door opener since the girlfriend did not have the keys to get inside, documents show. The friend said the girlfriend was very drunk, so she helped her get undressed and put her to bed.
Documents show the girlfriend’s friend said she sent Patterson a text message saying she was going to leave the front door unlocked for him. She told detectives she sent the text because the girlfriend had been texting Patterson to come over.
Text messages from the girlfriend’s phone found three messages from Patterson sent between 3:21 a.m. to 3:58 a.m. One of the messages demanded to know why the door was locked. The final text allegedly said he was “packing out Moses out.” Detectives believe the girlfriend did not see the text messages before the shooting because she was passed out.
The girlfriend’s 8-year-old son was sleeping in the bed during the shooting. He confirmed Karovsky was sleeping with them before the shooting.
Detectives did a search of the apartment and found a pair of bloody pants that appeared to have been cut off in the middle of the kitchen floor. A cell phone was found under the pants, documents show. There was blood leading up to the third story where the shooting occurred. Detectives also found a “substantial” amount of blood leading to the bedroom. The bathroom door appeared to have been kicked, and there were several bullet holes in the dry wall. Detectives believe the spent shell casings were picked up and removed from the house as there was only one found.
Karovsky does not have any previous criminal convictions, according to court records.
