Photo: Facebook
Solomon Whitt has long been familiar with the daughter and son of Jana Layman.
So after Layman separated from her husband, her familiarity with Whitt led her to invite him to share space in her Seattle home, and in December 2018 he moved in with the family.
But over time Whitt’s physical affection for her children grew to concern Layman, who told family and friends that she worried about his alleged “inappropriate contact” with them, according to authorities.
Layman asked Whitt to stop, and when he did not, to move out. But rather than leave, according to criminal charges in the case, Whitt allegedly attacked Layman in her home on January 10, grabbing her from behind and then strangling her and pushing her headfirst down a flight of basement stairs, reportsThe Seattle Times.
She died three days later, Seattle police said in anews release.
Whitt now is charged with first-degree murder of the woman mourned in heronline obituaryas “full of joy, adventure and fun-loving.”
“She was loving, accepting of everyone and a friend to all,” said the notice. “Her faith in God lifted her through many health problems and hardships; she genuinely valued her many friends and was committed to their lives.” Her children “were the joy of her life.”
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In a 911 call on January 10, Whitt “said he had found his roommate, a 41-year-old woman, unresponsive at the bottom of a staircase in their shared home,” police said.
Whitt was questioned and released, then questioned again and arrested after Layman died. He remains in the King County Correctional Facility on a $2 million bond, according to online jail records, which do not list an attorney who might speak on his behalf.
According to a charging document that lays out the prior contact between Layman and Whitt, “[t]he defendant was so fearful and anxious at the proposition of moving out of the house and losing his perceived relationship with the victim’s children, that he killed the victim and coldly and calculatedly attempted to cover up the murder,” reports theTimes.
A detective wrote in the charging document: “Although she asked Whitt to respect boundaries with her children, Whitt continued his behavior and in turn she decided to ask him to find a new place to live.”
On January 8, two days before the alleged attack, Layman asked a mutual acquaintance to help get Whitt out of the house so she could discuss her concerns with her kids. On January 9, Layman told the same person that she’d asked Whitt that morning to find another place to live, according to the charging document.
Layman’s death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy revealed she’d been strangled.
The charging document alleges that Whitt admitted to the killing.
Whitt is scheduled to be arraigned on February 6.
source: people.com
