A 35-year-old South Hill woman accused of fatally beating her mother with a bar stool last weekend made her first court appearance this afternoon.

Courts reporter Adam Lynn reports that prosecutors asked Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Patrick Oishi to hold Xing Zhu for another 72 hours  while investigators look into what happened at Zhu’s home Saturday night and why.

Deputy prosecutor Phil Sorensen said significant language barriers were slowing down the homicide investigation. He needed more time before making a charging decision.

Oishi ordered Zhu held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail and set …

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One man was hospitalized and another jailed after a stabbing Sunday night in Tacoma.

The 63-year-old victim was dropped off at Tacoma General Hospital around 9 p.m. Sunday with possible life threatening stab wounds, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said. Officers responded to the hospital and got information about where the stabbing took place.

Officers went to where the victim had been staying in the 1000 block of South Seventh Street and knocked on the door. The suspect, a 53-year-old man, reportedly opened the door and put up his hands, Fulghum said.

Tacoma police booked the man into Pierce County …

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King County sheriff’s detectives need the public’s help in identifying two men who broke into a Vashon Island home earlier this month, tied up the homeowner and pistol whipped him.

The Sheriff’s Office released surveillance images of the suspects today in hopes that someone recognizes them and calls police.

The home-invasion robbery occurred about 6:30 a.m. Aug. 19. The 46-year-old man had been asleep in the home in the 9400 block of Southwest Gorsuch Road when two masked men burst into the bedroom and tied the victim up with duct tape, deputies reported.

The robbers repeatedly demanded money and hit …

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From the catch-up file …

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 24-year-old man after he allegedly led police on a high-speed chase from the southern end of Pierce County to south King County early Thursday.

Charges of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle were filed against Serhiy O. Prostokin on Friday.

Charging documents provide the following information:

A Washington State Patrol trooper was stopped at the Mounts Road on-ramp to northbound Interstate 5 about 1 a.m. Thursday. The trooper spotted a motorcycle speeding north, passing vehicles.

The trooper got onto the highway …

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Crews are working to put out a grass fire off northbound Interstate 5 near the King County line.

The activity has drivers backed up for about three miles to 54th Street in Pierce County.

Firefighters in South King County quickly extinguished flames from a second-story apartment fire this morning.

Crews from the Valley Regional Fire Authority were called to the Clearwater Ridge Apartments in the 3700 block of Auburn Way South just after 9:45 a.m. They spotted smoke and flames coming from a second-floor unit, the agency reported.

Crews got the fire out quickly and kept it contained to the apartment where it started. All the occupants got out safely.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Fire crews were working to extinguish an attic fire in Milton this morning.

The house fire is located in the 2800 block of Emerald Drive.

Pierce County sheriff’s officials say a 59-year-old woman was beaten to death with a bar stool in a Puyallup home Saturday night.

The Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim as Yu Sang Li.

Her 35-year-old daughter has been arrested for first-degree murder, said sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.

The suspect dialed 911 about 5 p.m. Saturday.

“She called and said her mom was dead,” Troyer said.

When deputies arrived at the daughter’s home in the 12100 block of 168^th Street East, they found Li’s body.

Investigators are still trying to determine where Li is from and what led up to …

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