Update: Pasco man charged with killing 67-year-old family member during an argument

A Pasco man is accused of fatally stabbing an older family member during a fight in which both the victim and the suspect were overheard telling the other to “calm down.”

Giovanni Magaña, 30, refused to talk with police after his early Tuesday arrest at his 1813 N. 14th Ave. home.

But officers reported that when he finally emerged from a bedroom, Magaña’s hands were covered in blood and a bloody knife was seen on the mattress.

Praxedis Vargas Magaña, 67, was found unresponsive on the bedroom floor with blood around her neck, according to court documents.

The officers started CPR, followed by paramedics from the Pasco Fire Department, but she could not be revived, said a police Facebook post.

The woman’s relationship to Giovanni Magaña was not released by police.

Magaña is charged with second-degree murder and is locked up in the Franklin County jail on $500,000 bail.

Police were called at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday about a disturbance between a man and a woman at the home.

The caller said the woman sounded like she was in pain and was asking for the police to be called.

Magaña “was heard telling the female victim to be quiet and to calm down,” documents said.

The witness told officers that Magaña and Vargas Magaña had argued earlier in the evening but it did not escalate.

Then, after midnight, he said he started to hear shouting and banging coming from the bedroom, followed by Vargas Magaña yelling, “Stop! Stop!” and “Calm down, calm down,” court documents said.

The witness said the two often argued.

The bedroom door was closed, but the lights were on, when officers went inside the house. They knocked on the bedroom door and Magaña answered, saying he would come out shortly, according to court documents.

Five minutes later he walked out, turning off the bedroom lights.

Magaña was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car while medics tried to revive Vargas Magaña but she died at the house.

Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary said an autopsy is planned Thursday in Snohomish County.

Pasco investigators discovered that another officer spoke with the victim on July 9 when she reported that Magaña had left her home at 3 a.m. the previous day and never returned.

She was worried because while Magaña “leaving her home is not suspicious, him failing to return was,” court documents said.

She told an officer she “feared that something had happened to Giovanni because he was not in the right state of mind due to using methamphetamine since Friday, July 3. ... Giovanni’s meth use was the reason she had been watching him.”

In the search Tuesday of Magaña’s home, detectives confiscated the knife, along with a bag with suspected meth.

Detectives tried to interview Magaña but he did not speak.

“He was stoic and was non-verbal throughout the interaction,” documents said.

Later Tuesday afternoon, jail officials reported to court officials that Magaña is under a protective watch in the jail and could not make his preliminary appearance before a judge.

Court records show he has six juvenile court convictions dating back to 2003, including misdemeanor assaults, a weapons offense and trespassing. As an adult, he has convictions for an assault and vehicle theft.

Pasco police are asking anyone with information on Tuesday’s death to call dispatchers at 509-628-0333 or email Detectives Jed Abastillas (abastillasj@pasco-wa.gov) or Bill Wright (wrightb@pasco-wa.gov) about case #20-20229.

This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 12:19 PM.