MILTON-FREEWATER — Shayla Fawn Record Tsosie of Milton-Freewater faces murder for the death of her boyfriend in June.

Police Chief Doug Boedigheimer announced Walla Walla police on Wednesday arrested Record Tsosie, 22, on a Umatilla County warrant for murder and unlawful use of a weapon in the stabbing death of Christian Rodriguez-Calvillo.

The couple lived together at 604 Ward St., Milton-Freewater, where police arrived early June 21 after a 911 call and found Rodriguez-Calvillo bleeding out on the kitchen floor. He died at 3:25 that morning while en route to Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Richland, Washington.

Record Tsosie appeared Thursday morning in Walla Walla County Superior Court with her attorney, William McCool, who told Judge John Lohrmann his client would not waive extradition to Umatilla County and urged the judge to release her to her grandfather’s home in Walla Walla “due to the really extenuating circumstances of this case.” He also said Record Tsosie’s mother was in the courtroom, and her father lived in Walla Walla.

Record Tsosie cooperated with the police in Umatilla County, McCool told the judge, but had no place to live after Rodriguez-Calvillo died. Lohrmann said he couldn’t release her.

“I’m not going to second-guess the Umatilla court,” he said.

McCool, however, continued, saying Record Tsosie attempted suicide about a month-and-a-half ago and “needed to be on suicide watch.” She also received 53 stitches in her arm due to the suicide attempt then, and had surgery to remove a malignant tumor on her back Wednesday morning before her arrest.

“She has to be on opiates for the pain from surgery,” McCool said, adding, “Her family has maintained extremely good contact with me. Her grandfather could keep a better eye on her than the jail staff. … I’m concerned she’ll attempt suicide again.”

Lohrmann was firm.

“I cannot release her on that basis,” he said. “We will set a hearing for her extradition. … We’re done.”

Boedigheimer stated the arrest came after a relatively short investigation.

“I think this homicide was more on the unusual end of the spectrum in terms of the timeline of its resolution,” he said. “At least for MFPD.”

While investigations can take months or even years, Boedigheimer said, “Things simply fell into place on this one for us.”

The crime scene, for example, he noted, “was fairly limited in scope and restricted to one location” — the residence at 604 Ward St. And the responding officers and later detectives also “developed a reasonable theory” as to who was a person of interest — Record Tsosie.

According to the police search warrant affidavit, Record Tsosie told police Rodriguez-Calvillo claimed a stranger stabbed him, then he walked to the kitchen and lay on the floor. She also estimated 20 minutes passed before she called for medical help.

She told the 911 dispatcher she was applying pressure to Rodriguez-Calvillo’s wound, the affidavit stated, yet during an interview with police she said she did not do that. Still, Milton-Freewater police officer James Farr, the first cop on the scene, noted large blood stains on Record Tsosie’s shirt and pants, as well as fresh and dried blood on the front and back of her hands.

Record Tsosie’s appearance and behavior, Boedigheimer said, plus the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division work to gather and analyze evidence helped officers and detectives solidify their initial theory.

“In short,” Boedigheimer said, “it really was physical evidence that helped resolve the case fairly quickly, from the investigative perspective.”

Record Tsosie remains in the Walla Walla County Jail on $5 million bail while awaiting extradition to Umatilla County.

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Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reporter Emily Thornton contributed to this report.