On the morning of June 22, 2016, 31-year-old Terron R. McGrath was found shot to death inside a small camping trailer off Dutterow Road near Lacey, Washington. Two other men, Jackson L. Edens, 28, and Gerald M. Berkey, 36, were also found dead in the trailer; a fourth man survived a chest wound, called 911 around 5:15 a.m., and was taken to the hospital. Investigators said the scene suggested the violence happened quickly and without a significant struggle.

Police reported a large quantity of drugs in the trailer — about half a pound of methamphetamine and a baseball-sized amount of black tar heroin — along with several thousand dollars in cash and multiple firearms. Within a week authorities arrested 24-year-old Dugan John Lawton on charges including first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, and attempted murder; investigators described the killings as a pre-planned incident during a residential burglary and bail was set at $5 million. Another man, Enrique Lamere, was later charged and in April 2018 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 19-year sentence. McGrath was remembered by family as a mother of two daughters who was preparing to enter drug court.