Fugitive boyfriend charged in Beacon Hill double slaying

Daniel Thomas Hicks was charged Thursday with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, accused of fatally shooting his longtime girlfriend and their infant daughter after his girlfriend apparently told him she wanted him to move out of the Beacon Hill home where she'd grown up.

Hicks has been the subject of a police manhunt since Tuesday morning, when Jennifer Morgan's mother discovered her body on a couch in the renovated basement where the couple and their young daughter lived, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. Hicks is accused of killing Morgan and 13-week-old Ema Morgan sometime after noon Monday, the papers say.

On Wednesday, Hicks made a collect phone call to his father from San Jose, Calif., charging papers say. His father, who didn't speak with Hicks, called Seattle homicide detectives, who have yet to locate the 29-year-old fugitive.

The only penalties for aggravated first-degree murder are life in prison or death, according to a news release issued by King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Once Hicks is arrested and arraigned, Satterberg will have 30 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

The charging documents detail the horrific scene detectives found:

Hicks, who is accused of using a .45 caliber handgun, allegedly shot Jennifer Morgan at least 12 times and his daughter at least seven, according to charging documents. Twenty-one casings were found, and the documents point out that the type of gun used holds "an absolute maximum of eight rounds" — which means the weapon was reloaded at least twice.

A chilling family secret is also revealed in the charging papers: In 1983, Hicks' grandfather, Dean L. Hicks, killed his wife, Lona L. Hicks, and then himself. Daniel Hicks was a baby at the time.

Charging documents say Hicks left a note for his brother, a member of the military who visited Seattle over the Thanksgiving holiday but is now back in Iraq.

Found inside a bag of his brother's personal effects left in the basement apartment Hicks shared with Morgan, the note read: "I'm sorry. ... I hope your stuff is not stolen by the police. I am sick, like Grandpa. Sorry cannot fix life. Please live for yourself and not others. Do not cry."

Through interviews with Morgan's mother, Hicks' brother and half-sister, and one of Morgan's co-workers, detectives learned Hicks had been depressed and suicidal for some time — and his condition worsened when he learned his girlfriend of nine years was pregnant, the charging papers say.

He wanted her to have an abortion, claiming Morgan "was just trying to trap him with the pregnancy," the papers say.

Charging documents also accuse Hicks of threatening to kill Morgan and himself, and say he "had two loaded guns while he was making these threats."

Hicks hasn't worked for more than a year and spent most of his time in the basement apartment in the 1300 block of South Ferdinand Street, the papers say.

Detectives found a cache of weapons, all registered to Hicks, and ammunition in the house, but it is not clear in the charging documents whether the seized handguns included the suspected murder weapon.

Problems between the couple grew as the holidays approached, the documents say. Morgan told her mother Hicks was upset the baby was a girl instead of a boy. He also "became very jealous and suspicious of Jennifer," and questioned whether he was the baby's biological father, the papers say.

On Monday, Morgan planned to tell Hicks he needed to move out while her mother was at work, charging papers say. When Morgan's mother returned home around 9 p.m., she noticed Hicks' pickup was gone and "took solace in the expectation that the defendant had agreed his move was best for the family."

The mother told detectives "all was quiet downstairs" Monday night, and she thought her daughter and granddaughter were sleeping, the documents say.

Tuesday morning, she went downstairs to ask Morgan a question about a Christmas gift: "To her horror, [she] observed her 28-year-old daughter bloodied and obviously dead on the couch." She ran upstairs to call 911 but had "no idea that her granddaughter was also on the couch," the papers say.

Hicks was last seen about 6 p.m. Monday by a neighbor as he left in his pickup, according to charging documents.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com