Auburn man charged with fatally beating man with rifle butt

AUBURN, Wash. (AP) — King County prosecutors have charged an Auburn man with first-degree murder, alleging he beat a man to death with a rifle.

Francisco Ochoa-Prado, 31, is accused of entering Daniel Parkinson’s Auburn home on the night of Aug. 1 and fatally beating him with the stock of an AR-15 rifle, the Seattle Times reported.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Parkinson’s death a homicide due to severe blunt force trauma to his head. Ochoa-Prado is being held in the King County Jail as he awaits an Aug. 18 arraignment. His bail was set at $2 million.

Ochoa-Prado knew Parkinson owned an AR-15 rifle and kept it in his home, according to court documents. Ochoa-Prado told investigators he intended to use Parkinson’s rifle to kill him, court documents say.

Ochoa-Prado entered Parkinson’s home through sliding doors, found the AR-15 and entered Parkinson’s room with the rifle, according to the documents. He then pointed the rifle at Parkinson, who was asleep, and twice tried pulled the trigger, the documents said.

The gun did not fire, and Ochoa-Prado proceeded to beat Parkinson to death with the butt of the rifle, according to the documents.

Auburn police learned through interviews that Ochoa-Prado’s girlfriend had broken up with him that morning. His girlfriend lived in the same house as Parkinson, documents say, and Ochoa-Prado assumed the two were in a relationship.

She told police she ended her relationship with Ochoa-Prado because he was abusing drugs, according to court documents.