From left: Aydee Casado-Dominguez and Humberto Rodriguez Hernandez (KCPQ) and Caelick Bradley (GoFundMe).
A U.S. Army soldier and his fiancée are accused of fatally shooting her boyfriend after allegedly discovering he had “inappropriate pictures” of her on his phone, then leaving his body near a military installation in Washington state.
Aydee Casado-Dominguez and Humberto Rodriguez Hernandez, both 21, have been charged in connection with the death of Caelick Bradley. Authorities say they face second-degree murder, desecration of human remains and six counts of identity theft.
Tacoma police began looking for Bradley on June 12 after his mother reported that she had not heard from him in several days, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. Bradley had been expected to return to Virginia, but his sudden silence — including unanswered calls and messages — was out of character, his mother told investigators.
Officers went to Bradley’s apartment for a welfare check but did not find him there. Friends later told police that Bradley had been dating Casado-Dominguez, who investigators say was also engaged to Hernandez.
Those friends also alleged that Casado-Dominguez had sent Bradley “threatening messages” and wanted Hernandez to fight him. When detectives interviewed Casado-Dominguez, she claimed she last saw Bradley on June 8, saying he texted her that he was going to visit a friend but had gotten a flat tire.
The friend, however, gave police a different account, saying Casado-Dominguez picked Bradley up from the apartment. Investigators said phone records supported the friend’s version of events, according to the affidavit.
Bradley’s bank activity also raised concerns. Records showed his card was used at a local Walmart to purchase more than $700 in merchandise. Surveillance footage allegedly showed Hernandez and Casado-Dominguez using the card the day before Bradley’s mother contacted police. Hernandez, an Army service member, was later arrested by military police at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
In a Mirandized interview, Hernandez said his fiancee handed him Bradley’s card and he “just went with it.” Detectives then began pressing him about Bradley’s whereabouts. Hernandez “eventually confirmed” that Bradley was dead and took police to an area just outside the military base where they ditched the victim’s body, according to the affidavit.
Bradley’s remains were wrapped in some blankets tied together with ratchet straps. Hernandez said he returned to the apartment where he and Casado-Dominguez lived on June 9 and found Bradley dead on the couch with gunshot wounds, cops wrote.
Hernandez said Casado-Dominguez told him that Bradley showed up to the apartment “unannounced” and the two began arguing about “his possession of inappropriate pictures of her” on his phone, prosecutors wrote.
She fired a shot at him as she was falling to the ground and hit him, according to Casado-Dominguez’s account relayed to Hernandez. Bradley ran away but Casado-Dominguez chased him and brought him back to the apartment where he died, cops said.
Hernandez and Casado-Dominguez allegedly wrapped up the body with blankets and ratchet straps and ditched the remains near the base. They left behind her 2-year-old when they were disposing of the body, detectives said.
Investigators arrested Casado-Dominguez. She denied involvement in the alleged murder and claimed she was partying with friends she declined to identify the day Bradley died, per the affidavit.
The suspects have pleaded not guilty and remain in the Pierce County Jail on $1 million bonds. Their next court date is on July 22.
Bradley’s mother, in a GoFundMe account description, said her son served in the Army at Joint Base Lewis-McChord from 2017 to 2023. He was working as a security guard at the Port of Tacoma UPS facility at the time of his death.
