Beacon Hill Man Pleads Guilty To Murdering Girlfriend, Infant

This week 31-year-old Daniel Hicks entered a guilty plea in a King County courtroom regarding the murder of his girlfriend Jennifer Morgan and their 13-month-old daughter, Emma. He faces a sentence of life in prison without parole for two counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

The domestic violence double murder, which took place just days before Christmas, occurred when Hicks shot his partner and baby 21 times, reloading multiple times. Friends and relatives told authorities that he had threatened Morgan in the past, and that he had become increasingly jealous, paranoid, and violent after the birth of his child. After killing his family, he considered suicide then watched football on television before driving to California.

In a short note to his brother, the man referenced their grandfather, who committed a murder-suicide.

King County Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty because of the man’s history of mental health struggles.