Arlington man accused of killing girlfriend in April now charged with child rape

EVERETT -- An Arlington man accused of killing his girlfriend in April has now been charged with child rape after investigators discovered that he was allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl at the time, it was reported Friday.

According to the Everett Herald, Arlington detectives were investigating the shooting death of 25-year-old Jessica Jones on April 8 when they allegedly discovered that her boyfriend and suspect in her murder, Daniel Rinker, 25, was having sex with an underage girl.

The newspaper said the girl reportedly told detectives the two had sex on multiple occasions, including after Jones was shot.

In charging papers, a Snohomish County prosecutor wrote that when Rinker was in jail in September as a suspect in Jones' murder, he had a phone conversation with the girl in which she told him that she might be pregnant and he allegedly told the girl to get an abortion by drinking bleach and Pepto Bismol

Jones was fatally shot in the garage of an Arlington home; Rinker was charged with second-degree murder in the case.

REST OF TEXT IS FROM EARLIER STORY IN MAY

Police said they were called to the home in the 6800 block of 188th St NE  at 3 p.m. on April 8 to reports of an assault with a weapon.

“We were just sitting in the house and I heard a gunshot and I was like, oh,” neighbor Eleazar said.

When officers arrived, they found a 25-year-old woman, Jessica Jones, who had been shot in the head.  She was immediately airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She died the next day.

Early speculation by one neighbor was that it was a drive-by shooting. Another neighbor recalls hearing an altercation in front of the home, then a single gunshot.

"The suspect initially reported to Arlington police that Ms. Jones was shot by an unknown person who was possibly shooting from inside of a dark blue Dodge Neon," the Arlington Police Department said in a statement issued Monday night. "Combined witness accounts, video surveillance, and interviews did not confirm this version of events.

"A witness later shared with Arlington detectives that they saw the suspect enter the garage during a disturbance and then heard a gunshot. A handgun was recovered from some nearby bushes during the search of the property by Arlington police," the statement said.

It added that the suspect is "well-known to officers with prior convictions for assault, robbery, burglary, and unlawful possession of a firearm."