Trinity Morley during her arrest (King County Prosecuting Attorney).
A Washington state woman who plotted to kill her ex-boyfriend has been ordered to stay away from him for a long time.
Trinity Morley, 20, pleaded guilty last month to attempted assault in the first degree with a domestic violence modifier in connection with her foiled plan to kill her ex-boyfriend. Morley was arrested in July 2025 after her parents found a journal she was keeping that outlined her plan to shoot her ex-boyfriend with a shotgun. They searched their then-teenage daughter's room when Morley left the house on the night of July 27, 2025, telling her parents she was going out to "graffiti houses." However, prosecutors said that she had a more "sinister plan" in mind.
The same night, her ex-boyfriend's father called 911 after seeing "a female standing in his backyard with a rifle dressed in all black and wearing a ski mask." The female was identified as Morley.
Morley's parents also called 911 that night to report their daughter. One week before, they had obtained an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) against her. According to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime, Morley's parents had long had concerns about their daughter's history of mental illness, which included hospitalization for "self-harm incidents, including a suicide attempt."
In the journal that Morley's parents found, Morley wrote, "I have the gun now, three rounds of slug of buckshot. The shotgun is heavy. He told me that if I don't hold it right, my arm will get blown off. I have 3 chances to get this right and I don't want to resort to the knives."
When Morley was unable to get the gun right away due to the state's "cool-down" period, she got one from her boyfriend at the time. Morley told him that she had been getting "threatening texts," so he believed that Morley should have the shotgun for self-defense.
After Morley fled her ex-boyfriend's home, sheriff's deputies followed her to a nearby dock, where she reportedly told them she was "suicidal" and held her shotgun to her chin. After a brief standoff, Morley dropped her firearm and a knife and deputies took her into custody.
Deputies read Morley her rights, and subsequently admitted that she had planned to kill her ex-boyfriend and then herself, according to the documents. According to prosecutors, the previously "suicidal" suspect was "smiling, rolling her eyes, and even chuckling" while deputies processed her arrest.
Morley claimed that her ex-boyfriend sexually assaulted her, and after she reported the assault, charges were never filed. According to prosecutors, detectives closed the case after they determined the claims were "unfounded."
Morley was sentenced on Friday to 17 months in prison plus 36 months of supervised release. She was ordered to stay away from her ex-boyfriend for 10 years.