UPDATE: Police ID Person of Interest in Stabbing Death of Juanita Woman

UPDATE, 4:25 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1: The Kirkland Police say they now have identified a person of interest in the murder of 19-year-old Scarlett Paxton in Juanita early Wednesday morning.

The person's name is not being released, the police said in a press release, but is in custody in another jurisdiction on an unrelated charge.

The short release said detectives believe there is no threat to the public and that their investigation continues.

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Original story:

Kirkland Police are now investigating the stabbing death of a 19-year-old woman in Juanita Wednesday as a homicide and have identified the victim as Scarlett Paxton.

The Kirkland Police Department issued a press release Thursday afternoon saying that the King County Medical Examiner had ruled the death a homicide, and that it came from a “sharp injury” to the neck.

Police recovered a knife at the scene. It is not known yet if that knife was used in the murder. Investigators also served a search warrant but they didn't reveal the details of what was recovered, if anything. 

Kirkland Police Lt. Mike Murray said Thursday that Paxton’s 19-year-old boyfriend, who lived with her at the Juanita apartment complex where she was found and called 911, is still not considered a suspect.

“He is still a witness,” Murray said. “Our detectives are following up on other leads, but the boyfriend has been nothing but cooperative from the get-go.”

No suspects have yet emerged, Murray said, but added, “We do have some promising leads we are following up.”

Murray would not release many details of events at the scene before the 911 call at about 2:50 a.m. Wednesday. But he said Paxton was found on the steps to the apartment, at a complex called Hidden Firs in the 13300 block of 100th Avenue NE in north Juanita.

“The only thing I can share at this time is that we know she and her boyfriend went for a walk,” Murray said. “They separated at some point and she went back to the apartment. When he returned he found her there.”

The Kirkland Police are conducting the investigation with the Washington State Patrol.

Paxton attended in Kirkland, according to her Facebook page, and friends have created a memorial page to her that can be found here. They are planning a candlelight memorial for Paxton Thursday at 6 p.m. outside the Starbucks near the apartment on 100th Avenue NE.

Kirkland Police and a State Patrol crime scene investigations team combed the area around the complex for hours Wednesday morning looking for evidence.

Murray said then that 911 dispatchers instructed the boyfriend in performing CPR, but that Paxton died soon after a Kirkland Fire Department emergency medical crew arrived.

“An aid crew got her down to the aid car, but in the process she passed away,” said Murray.

The apartment complex is tucked behind the Juanita and a Starbucks store, and by mid-morning a Washington State Patrol team was on the scene, combing an area of asphalt behind the Safeway around garbage dumpsters.

“We found some possible evidence back behind the Albertsons,” Murray said Wednesday. “It might be something and it might not. We’re looking at everything right now.”