An illicit meetup to exchange pills for property went off the rails Sunday night and devolved into a physical fight that ended with the brutal death of an Orting man on the parking lot at 202 Cross St. SE in Auburn.

The King County Prosecutor on Wednesday charged Austin Eugene Glore, 17, of North Bend, with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of 35-year-old Bryce Pearson.

Auburn Police say Glore repeatedly stabbed Pearson as he lay helpless on the ground near the Big Foot Java on Auburn Way South and left him to die.

According to police, Pearson, bleeding from multiple stab wounds, tried to make it to a nearby MultiCare Clinic for help but the clinic was closed. Paramedics rushed to the scene but he was already dead.

Glore is in King County Juvenile Detention on $1 million bail.

Prosecutors have likewise charged Michael Milton Sample, 20, of North Bend, with one count of second-degree rendering criminal assistance for driving Glore from the scene after the stabbing. Sample is in the SCORE Jail on $100,000 bail.

According to what Glore himself told police, an account included in the Auburn Police Department’s Certification for Determination of Probable Cause, he chased Pearson several blocks from the Auburn Way South Denny’s because Pearson had stolen his backpack. He finally caught him near the Big Foot Java, and knocked him down.

“After the blow to the back, Pearson fell to the ground and Glore continued his onslaught, stabbing Pearson repeatedly. While Glore has no known criminal convictions, his willingness to use extraordinary and lethal violence demonstrates the great risk he poses to the public,” King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jason L. Simmons told the court in his request for bail.

Detectives later tracked down a connection between Pearson, the suspects and the vehicle used to transport the suspects to Auburn. These efforts led detectives to three residences in the North Bend area. Once there, King County SWAT helped to clear the houses and Auburn detectives conducted evidence searches.

Police arrested Glore in North Bend and Sample in Seattle.

Arraignment for both suspects is Nov. 6.