Army Ranger Killed Himself After Brutally Murdering And Mutilating A Woman, Police Say

A 20-year-old Army Ranger died by suicide after killing and mutilating a woman in a Washington hotel room, police say.

Before killing himself, Krishna Mahadevan-Prasad was being investigated for killing a 38-year-old woman who was found covered in cuts that appear to have happened after her death, according to a statement by the Renton Police Department.

“Investigators arrived to discover that the woman had suffered numerous cut wounds to the body including what appeared to be intentional mutilation occurring after death,” police said in the statement. 

Surveillance footage captured Mahadevan-Prasad knocking on the door of the hotel room, entering and staying for just three minutes before he left, police told the Seattle Times. Police believe he committed the murder and mutilation in those three minutes. He had checked into the same hotel earlier that day with doctored identification.

The alleged murder occurred in late July, and he remains the only suspect in the case, police say.

After leaving the hotel, Mahadevan-Prasad also fired multiple shots at two cars, injuring one man and just missing three others, the Washington State Patrol said in a statement.

His first shots hit a Ford Expedition and narrowly avoided the 28-year-old driver and his 5- and 6-year-old daughters.

“I was bending slightly over to check the maps on my phone toward the center. So I got very, very, very lucky,” Michael Brooks, the driver of the Ford told KOMO-TV in Seattle.

Mahadevan-Prasad also turned and shot a nearby Dodge Caravan, striking a 30-year-old man in his elbow, according to police.

After shooting at both of the cars, the 20-year-old turned the gun on himself and shot himself in his vehicle, police said. Mahadevan-Prasad was driving a black Honda Accord at the time and his official cause of death will be determined after an autopsy.

The brutal nature of the killing and shooting prompted investigators to consider if Mahadevan-Prasad was responsible for any other violent acts, Renton police said. Authorities are urging anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts earlier that day to contact police.

The Army Ranger was found with a shotgun and a rife when police found him. The New Jersey native had just recently moved to Washington where he was assigned to the 2^nd Battalion, 75^th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Seattle Times reported.

He had joined the Army in September and was active duty.

[Photo: Renton Police Department]