WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of the scene of a murder and assault.
SPOKANE, Wash.-- Newly filed court documents are providing details about what police found at the scene of a North Spokane mother’s death and her young daughter’s stabbing.
Joshua Phillips is charged with second degree murder and second degree attempted murder for the death of his ex-girlfriend, Kassie and her 5-year-old daughter, Lilly’s, stabbing. KREM 2 is intentionally not sharing the victims' last names to protect the child's privacy.
During his first court appearance Monday, Phillips did not enter a plea and his bond was kept at $1.5 million.
According to new court documents, it was determined that Kassie had ended her relationship with Phillips two days before her death and her family changed the locks on the home in an effort to prevent him from getting into the home.
The detective who responded to the scene wrote in court documents that the garage Kassie and Lilly were found in was spattered with blood and blood was smeared on the cars inside. A container of jelly beans was also found on the floor next to the victims, documents said. The detective wrote that the scene demonstrated a “violent encounter, indicating that there was a struggle, with blood in numerous places around the garage.”
When the detective went to talk to Phillips in the hospital, court documents said Phillips didn’t respond to the detective but he was conscious. An ER nurse told an officer that Phillips said he had been in a garage trying to commit suicide for two hours and that he had a daughter with stab wounds, according to documents.
Medical staff told police that Lilly had been stabbed 7-10 times and required immediate surgery, according to documents. A medic told police Lilly was talking while being transported to the hospital and said, “the man stabbed me,” document say.
While serving a search warrant, court documents said investigators seized a bloody knife, items that appeared to belong to Phillips, a pill bottle with Phillips’ name with bloody fingerprints on it and clothing. A car registered to Phillips was also found parked about a block from the home, documents say.
Kassie was found dead in her home on North Adams Street on Sunday, April 11 and her daughter, Lilly, remains hospitalized after suffering injuries in the attack. The Spokane County Medical Examiner said Kassie died from multiple stab wounds and confirmed her manner of death as homicide.
When Spokane Fire personnel arrived at the home, they found two vehicles in the garage that were both running, according to court documents. Fire personnel also found Kassie dead with multiple stab wounds and Lilly with multiple stab wounds to her torso area. Phillips was lying on the floor in close proximity to both of them.
Fire personnel began treating the 5-year-old and did not observe any serious injuries to Phillips, court documents say. Investigators observed that he may have been intoxicated and was acting confused, which may have been caused by the exhaust fumes in the garage.
Phillips spent a week in the hospital after the incident. He was officially charged and arrested in connection to the case on Saturday, April 17.
Court records indicate Phillips has a criminal history dating back to 2001, with charges including domestic violence, disorderly conduct and malicious mischief.
A detective with the Spokane Police Department spoke to two of Kassie’s other children who said they had been at their father’s home in Spokane Valley on the day of their mother’s death, court documents say. The children told the detective that their mother was supposed to come pick them up but they couldn’t get a hold of her, so their father drove them back to her home.
The children’s father dropped them off and left, they told investigators. The children then tried to enter the home but the doors were locked, court documents say. They used a ladder and were able to climb through a window to enter the home.
The children noted that the home was in disarray when they entered and thought this was strange, according to court documents. They walked around to the location of the unattached garage and could hear a vehicle running inside. The children said they tried to break into the garage but were unable to do so and someone subsequently called 911.
PHOTOS: Spokane police find one woman dead, 5-year-old with serious injuries
The children also told investigators that the man found in the garage had been living with their mother since about June 2020 and that the two "seemed to constantly fight," court records say. The children said their mother had kicked the man out of the home two days earlier.
Investigators also learned that Kassie had apparently received about 100 text messages from Phillips on Saturday, April 10, one day before her death, according to court documents. They would have been received after she kicked him out of her home. One of the investigators was told that some of the text messages sent by Phillips were “very disturbing.”
A GoFundMe is set up to help Lilly's family with the cost of her recovery. Supporters have raised more than $121,000 as of Monday afternoon. An update posted to the campaign said Lilly was stirring on Saturday and is on a breathing tube. Her father is with her in the hospital.