Medical examiner: Boy died of asphyxiation, had bruises
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TACOMA, Wash. -- The 5-year-old boy whose body was discovered hours after his mother and father were found dead following a high-speed chase died from asphyxiation, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday.
Jordan Stewart's body had been found in his bedroom of the family's Spanaway home with a plastic bag over his head and wrapped in a blanket, said Det. Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. The coroner ruled the boy died some time on Monday.
Investigators also found bruises on the boy, and believe the boy may have been abused. The
Deputies discovered the grisly scene when they went to check on him following the chase in Tumwater, at the end of which the boy's parents were both found dead Troyer said. Investigators said the inside of the home had signs of violence.
"Definitely some kind of issue going on in this residence," Troyer said. "TVs are destroyed, house is trashed. There's nothing in this house that is not in disarray."
"Just can't see why adults can't leave the kids alone," said neighbor Beverly Rhoades. "If they want to kill themselves, let them kill themselves. But leave the kids."
The boy's parents, Kristy S. Sampels and David Stewart, were found dead inside a car in Tumwater. Investigators believe Stewart committed suicide during the chase. Sampels was found dead in the car with a gunshot wound.
Tony Maes, who owns the home where the family lived, said when he called Samples last week about an unpaid bill, he heard David Stewart in the background.
"I think he was complaining about the check will be there whenever it gets there or something," he said.
Maes said Sampels was very sick and underwent several stomach surgeries. Postings on David Stewart's Facebook page told of his own injuries.
"Feeling down. Army M.D. might have paralyzed my left arm, wife healing but still in a rough way," he wrote on Aug. 27.
"Kristy had to have some surgery for tummy pain… I'm also seeing head shrinker to help level me out," he wrote two days later.
IV bags were found inside the home along with medication, and crutches were in the car when it crashed.
Tuesday morning, David Stewart committed suicide as a high-speed chase came to an end on Interstate 5 at Tumwater, and troopers found a woman's body in the passenger seat moments later. The woman was later identified as 38-year-old Sampels.
The Thurston County medical examiner ruled both David Stewart and Sampels died of a gunshot wound to the head. Stewart likely shot Sampels to death during the chase, the medical examiner said, then took his own life after the chase ended.
David Stewart was a soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, assigned to the 575th Area Support Medical Company, 56th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 62nd Medical Brigade, military officials said. He served two tours in Iraq.
The chase began in the Nisqually area at 5:50 a.m. when David Stewart sped past a marked trooper. The trooper attempted to pull the driver over, but the driver kept going and a chase began, said Trooper Guy Gill with the Washington State Patrol.
The chase reached speeds of 105 mph as the driver weaved in and out of traffic, troopers said. The driver continued on I-5 south through Olympia but troopers deployed a spike strip and the driver eventually lost control, spinning out just past the Tumwater Boulevard exit and coming to a rest right in front of the trooper's car.
The trooper said he saw the driver raise his hands and then heard a gun shot. Troopers found both David Stewarts' and Sampels' bodies in the car.
Jordan Stewart's body had been found in his bedroom of the family's Spanaway home with a plastic bag over his head and wrapped in a blanket, said Det. Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. The coroner ruled the boy died some time on Monday.
Investigators also found bruises on the boy, and believe the boy may have been abused. The
Deputies discovered the grisly scene when they went to check on him following the chase in Tumwater, at the end of which the boy's parents were both found dead Troyer said. Investigators said the inside of the home had signs of violence.
"Definitely some kind of issue going on in this residence," Troyer said. "TVs are destroyed, house is trashed. There's nothing in this house that is not in disarray."
"Just can't see why adults can't leave the kids alone," said neighbor Beverly Rhoades. "If they want to kill themselves, let them kill themselves. But leave the kids."
The boy's parents, Kristy S. Sampels and David Stewart, were found dead inside a car in Tumwater. Investigators believe Stewart committed suicide during the chase. Sampels was found dead in the car with a gunshot wound.
Tony Maes, who owns the home where the family lived, said when he called Samples last week about an unpaid bill, he heard David Stewart in the background.
"I think he was complaining about the check will be there whenever it gets there or something," he said.
Maes said Sampels was very sick and underwent several stomach surgeries. Postings on David Stewart's Facebook page told of his own injuries.
"Feeling down. Army M.D. might have paralyzed my left arm, wife healing but still in a rough way," he wrote on Aug. 27.
"Kristy had to have some surgery for tummy pain… I'm also seeing head shrinker to help level me out," he wrote two days later.
IV bags were found inside the home along with medication, and crutches were in the car when it crashed.
Tuesday morning, David Stewart committed suicide as a high-speed chase came to an end on Interstate 5 at Tumwater, and troopers found a woman's body in the passenger seat moments later. The woman was later identified as 38-year-old Sampels.
The Thurston County medical examiner ruled both David Stewart and Sampels died of a gunshot wound to the head. Stewart likely shot Sampels to death during the chase, the medical examiner said, then took his own life after the chase ended.
David Stewart was a soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, assigned to the 575th Area Support Medical Company, 56th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 62nd Medical Brigade, military officials said. He served two tours in Iraq.
The chase began in the Nisqually area at 5:50 a.m. when David Stewart sped past a marked trooper. The trooper attempted to pull the driver over, but the driver kept going and a chase began, said Trooper Guy Gill with the Washington State Patrol.
The chase reached speeds of 105 mph as the driver weaved in and out of traffic, troopers said. The driver continued on I-5 south through Olympia but troopers deployed a spike strip and the driver eventually lost control, spinning out just past the Tumwater Boulevard exit and coming to a rest right in front of the trooper's car.
The trooper said he saw the driver raise his hands and then heard a gun shot. Troopers found both David Stewarts' and Sampels' bodies in the car.
