Redmond Man Charged With Murder In Custody in Arkansas: Police

REDMOND, WA — A 35-year-old Redmond who was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother has turned himself into police in Arkansas and remains in custody while awaiting extradition back to Washington, according to jail records and.a published report.

Charles Kramer was being sought on a $2 million warrant after he was charged on Friday. The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that Kramer turned himself into police in Bentonville, Ark. According to the report, Kramer had been staying with family in Arkansas and made the decision to turn himself into police, the newspaper reported. Jail records showed that Kramer was still in custody on Tuesday on an out-of-state hold.

According to the charging documents filed Friday by King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg, authorities say that Kramer shot his mother, Ramona Whited, with a hunting rifle and then waited several hours to report her death to police and after police said he hid the gun in the Redmond apartment.

According to the documents filed by the prosecutor, Kramer has no known criminal history, but indicated that Kramer and Whited had a troubled relationship. According police, Kramer characterized his mother as being controlling, manipulative and sometimes abusive toward him.

Kramer has denied any involvement in Whited’s death, but according to police, there is no indication that no one else entered the apartment at the time of her death, which took place in May, police said.

Police said that Kramer had offered several scenarios in which his mother could have died, including suicide, a drug deal gone bad, a houseguest seeking revenge of Whited and a break-in. Police said, however, that Kramer’s DNA was found on the trigger, barrel and magazine cap of the .22 caliber rifle that police said was used in the shooting and that was later found hidden in the apartment, police said.

Police were called to the apartment in the 9300 block of Avondale Road on May 13 after police say that Kramer called 911 to say that his mother was unresponsive in her bed. On May 16, police said that the King County Medical Examiner reported that a single bullet hole had been found in the back of Whited’s head. A .22 caliber bullet was also found during the autopsy of Whited, who was 59, according to police.

Kramer told police that he last saw his mother alive on the night of May 12 when she gave him cash and a list of errands to run the next day. Kramer told police that he found his mother unresponsive in her bed the next day after reporting that there was a handwritten "Do Not Disturb" sign posted on the door of her bedroom. At the time, he told police then that he was not involved in his mother’s death and did not assist in hiding evidence of her committing suicide, police said in the documentation.

After her continued to provide police with scenarios of how Whited could have died, police eventually found evidence, tying Kramer to both the hunting rifle and to the shooting, police said in the report that was filed along with the warrant for Kramer's arrest.

Months later, after Kramer had met with police several times and continued to deny involvement in his mother’s death, Kramer was shown a photo of the rifle that police say was used in the shooting. According to police, Kramer said he had never seen the weapon and could not explain how his DNA could have been found on the gun.