ME confirms identity of man killed outside Lakeside Landing Apartments in Tacoma
A man who was shot and killed Monday near the Lakeside Landing Apartments has been identified by the Pierce County medical examiner.
Dennis Parker, 41 of Tacoma, died on Monday from a gunshot wound to the chest near the 7000 block of South 12th Street. His manner of death was a homicide, the medical examiner confirmed in a media release.
Tacoma police arrived on the scene after 1 p.m. and Parker on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound in his chest. He did not have a pulse and was pronounced dead at the scene, a previous News Tribune story reported.
Christopher Jadwick Lynch, 31, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder for Parker’s death. A plea of not guilty on grounds of self-defense was entered on Lynch’s behalf at Pierce County Superior Court on Wednesday. He is being held at Pierce County Jail on $1 million bail.
Officers learned multiple 911 calls from the apartment complex reported that Parker was kicking and banging on a neighbor’s door prior to the incident. An earlier police report stated that officers contacted the man on Oct. 22 and cited him for causing a disturbance at the complex while armed with a knife.
Lynch told detectives that he went to the complex because his girlfriend told him that Parker was banging on her door and walls.
Lynch claimed that he and his girlfriend left her apartment and walked to the sidewalk where the incident occurred. He said that Parker kept moving towards them despite Lynch asking him to stop before he shot him. He told detectives that he “assumed” Parker had something in his hands but did not know what.
Citing surveillance footage, detectives said Lynch was standing five to eight feet away from Parker on the sidewalk. They noted that Parker did not move towards Lynch in the video. With his gun drawn, Lynch allegedly took a step or two backwards before Parker fell to the ground. Detectives called the incident an unprovoked shooting.
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 1:18 PM.
