Prosecutor: Man killed girlfriend to keep her from leaving for college

Gabriel Navarro, right, is pictured with Allison Leedy, whom he is accused of killing Saturday in their Renton apartment in a photo published on Navarro's Facebook account. Gabriel Navarro, right, is pictured with Allison Leedy, whom he is accused of killing Saturday in their Renton apartment in a photo published on Navarro's Facebook account. Photo: Gabriel Navarro/Facebook Photo: Gabriel Navarro/Facebook Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Prosecutor: Man killed girlfriend to keep her from leaving for college 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

King County prosecutors believe 20-year-old Gabriel Navarro of Renton killed his girlfriend Saturday in an effort to prevent her from leaving their abusive relationship and going to college.

The prosecutor's office filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Navarro, who is still held in King County Jail on $2 million bail.

Navarro called 911 Saturday morning (April 12) shortly before noon to report having strangled his girlfriend, 20-year-old Allison Leedy. He also texted members of Leedy's family to tell them that he killed her and blamed them for trying to help her out of their relationship, according to the affidavit.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Adrienne McCoy described the couple's three-year relationship as one characterized by "manipulation, isolation and psychological destruction."

The probable cause report details controlling behavior on Navarro's part, including monitoring all of Leedy's communication with family and friends, restricting her from seeing her family, finding a job at every business where she worked so he could keep his eye on her and never letting her be alone.

He would also threaten suicide to manipulate her actions, reports say.

Leedy ran away with Navarro four days after her 18th birthday, her father told investigators.

However, Leedy began to make plans with her family to leave Navarro, finish her GED and go to college, specifically art school, according to court documents. Navarro reportedly knew of these plans, which angered him.

He called 911 at 11:50 a.m. Saturday to report he had strangled Leedy. He made up lies to the 911 operator, saying he was armed with a Glock handgun and had set up a propane-fueled booby trap at the Renton apartment the couple shared in the 1300 block of South Eagle Ridge Drive.

The victim's grandfather also called 911 after reportedly receiving the following text message from Navarro: "If you are getting this you are responsible for Allison's death, you turned her against me, you abused her heart by offering her to go to college."

Responding officers found Navarro standing outside and ordered him to surrender, but he ran into the apartment. Officers fired into the front and rear windows to ventilate the apartment in case explosive gas was indeed inside. The shots prompted Navarro to leave the apartment and surrender.

Leedy was found face-down on the bed inside, dead at the scene.

After being taken to the Renton Police Department, the man told detectives his alternate personality, "Frost," was responsible for killing Leedy.

Upon investigation, detectives learned that multiple other family members of Leedy received text messages from Navarro at the time of her death, including her father and younger sister.

He texted messages such as "She's dead," "I have the last laugh" and "You did this," reports say.

The autopsy showed that Leedy suffered fingernail abrasions on her neck, as well as internal bruising to her neck muscles. The hemorrhaging found on her face incidated she was strangled for at least three minutes, according to the affidavit.

Navarro has no known criminal history. His arraignment is scheduled for May 1 in Kent.

Lynsi Burton can be reached at lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI.