Bucking national trend, Tacoma recorded its highest tally of homicides on record in 2022
On a national scale, the increasing violence Americans have seen since 2020 began to calm last year. But Pierce County defied that trend with an increase in homicides in 2022.
There were 79 killings across Pierce County last year, up from 68 in 2021. That figure includes Tacoma, the cities and towns in the county such as Lakewood and Puyallup, as well as unincorporated areas. And as the deaths have risen, law enforcement agencies’ solve rate has fallen. Twenty-one of last year’s total homicides are so far unsolved.
Violent death reached the oldest and youngest people in Pierce County’s cities and towns, and the motivations of their killers ranged from petty disputes to a decade-old grudge, drug- and gang-related killings, domestic violence, road rage, robbery and self defense. The youngest victim was 2-year-old Sarai Brooks, who died allegedly at the hands of her parents. The oldest was 80-year-old Raymond Plattner, whose grandson was charged with his murder. The News Tribune’s analysis of the homicides shows that of those known to have committed a homicide, 95 percent were men. Homicide victims were 78 percent men and 22 percent women.
Nine people died in shootings involving police, including Deputy Dominique Calata, a 35-year-old father gunned down by a man avoiding an assault trial.
The violence was particularly bad in Tacoma, which saw 45 killings last year, up from 34 in 2021, previously the city’s deadliest year. According to state crime records dating back to 1980, the closest Tacoma has come to matching those grim records was in 1988, 1994 and 2020, when the city had 33 homicides.
Tacomans have responded to the violence with calls for action. In July, hundreds of people marched through Hilltop after 14-year-old Iyana Ussery was murdered. Months before, Foss High School students staged a walkout to protest gun violence. Nearly all of the homicides in the county last year (92 percent) were shootings.
Tacoma has poured at least $491,000 into an ongoing plan to reduce violent crime, but city leaders, local experts and Tacoma’s police union disagree on its effectiveness.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department also saw an increase in homicides in 2022, albeit at a lower rate than in 2021, when killings surged from 15 the previous year to 24. In 2022, the department saw 25 homicides in its jurisdiction.
“To be close to 2021 numbers means we’re still having a lot of homicides,” sheriff’s Sgt. Darren Moss said. “We need to be back around 15 to go back to normal.”
Motives in last year’s homicides varied, but the two highest known causes were domestic violence and killings that stemmed from arguments or fights, with 10 each.
The next-highest number (6) were drug-related killings, followed by homicides that occurred as a result of robberies or theft (3), including the April 30 fatal stabbing of Odessa Easterlin.
Other violent crime is up in the county. Compared to yearly data from the past five years, armed robbery was up 71 percent, aggravated assault was up 28 percent, and rape was up 20 percent in 2022, according to crime stats shared by the Sheriff’s Department.
Property crime also was up, including auto theft (96 percent), non-residential burglary (21 percent) and other thefts (18 percent). Deputies said residential burglary was down 17 percent and shoplifting was down 50 percent, but Moss attributed shoplifting’s large decline to a decrease in reporting.
More murders but solve rate is down
Police departments across the United States have experienced declining murder-clearance rates for decades. The Tacoma Police Department has historically had a high clearance rate, but it fell in 2022 to 71 percent from 87 percent in 2021.
That’s the second-lowest clearance rate the department has had in nearly two decades, according to previous reporting from The News Tribune. The lowest was in 2017 when the department had 12 homicides to solve, and four weren’t cleared by the end of the year, making the clearance rate 66 percent.
To consider a homicide cleared, police generally have to have a suspect in custody and charged, but police can sometimes clear a case if a suspect is identified. Of the 45 homicides that occurred in the city, four were police shootings investigated by the Pierce County Force Investigation Team, and one was a Dec. 6 death that the medical examiner had not yet ruled a homicide, but the police department is investigating it as one. So while Tacoma police have cleared 30 of the 42 homicides they investigated, only 29 cases have had arrests and charges filed.
“Tacoma detectives continue to pursue all avenues in their investigations into unsolved cases,” police spokesperson Wendy Haddow told The News Tribune. “Anyone with information relating to any of these crimes are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.”
An arrest was made Thursday in one homicide that was not solved by the end of last year, the murder of Mason Hall, 30, found dead Dec. 12 with a gunshot wound to the chest.
The department is solving more murders overall, but more are occurring in the city. Staffing challenges also might be a factor in the clearance rate. In October, Police Chief Avery Moore said TPD had 118 officers to respond to calls when it’s budgeted for 173 positions, resulting in overtime costs amounting to millions of dollars.
TPD remains above the national average for solving homicides. According to the Murder Accountability Project, which analyzes data collected from law enforcement agencies nationwide, 2021’s clearance rate was 50.5 percent, the lowest on record.
The Sheriff’s Department solved 13 of the 21 homicides it investigated for a clearance rate of 62 percent. Four of the 25 homicides in its jurisdiction were police shootings investigated by PCFIT. Aside from Puyallup, other police departments had a 100 percent solve rate last year. Lakewood had four homicides, and Steilacoom, Buckley and Fife each had one.
Puyallup police are still investigating the Nov. 30 fatal shooting of the owner of a barbershop. No arrests have been made, giving the department a clearance rate of zero. Spokesperson Capt. Ryan Portmann said detectives are asking anyone with information about the shooting to get in touch with police.
“They are pursuing a variety of different angles,” Portmann said of detectives. “There’s work to be done, and they’re actively working the case.”
All 21 of the unsolved homicides in the county were shootings.
2022 unsolved homicides in Tacoma
- Feb. 5: Philip Mercado Mendoza, 37, was shot to death in a restaurant filled with customers.
- Feb. 19: Kavonte Crowley, 29, died after being brought to a local hospital with a gunshot wound.
- March 14: Michael Jones, 48, was fatally shot outside an Eastside business.
- March 16: Steven Elmendorf, 61, was killed in a shooting outside his home.
- April 12: Astina Messieur, 25, was fatally shot on South Hosmer Street.
- April 20: Jusdon Mounts, 37, was fatally shot in a parked car on Hilltop.
- April 28: Ta’ape Nunu, 41, was gunned down on the Eastside.
- July 31: Tenisio Fiamate, 30, was killed in a shooting near Thea’s Park that also injured another man.
Aug. 24: Nicholaus Ahlstrand, 44, was shot and killed in Central Tacoma.
Sept. 1: Skyler Zimmerle, 29, was found dead after an overnight Eastside shooting.
Oct. 10: Jerry Williams-Reyes, 32, was killed in a shooting that also injured an 18-year-old woman.
Nov. 19: A 33-year-old man who has not been identified was killed in a shooting at a Stadium District gas station that also injured another man.
Reporter Liz Moomey contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Bucking national trend, Tacoma recorded its highest tally of homicides on record in 2022."
