What happened to Tacoma 12-year-old found dead? Court documents offer details
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Investigation on hold pending Medical Examiner’s ruling on cause and manner of death.
- Warrant cited probable cause for 2nd-degree murder; no arrests or charges.
- Mother says autopsy showed heart issue; medical examiner won’t confirm, citing state law.
Months after a 12-year-old boy was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a Tacoma apartment building, a police investigation remains on hold pending the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office’s ruling on his cause and manner of death.
The Medical Examiner’s Office has declined to release any information about its death investigation beyond the boy’s name, Preston Hemingway-Lux, his age, city of residence, the general location of where he died and the date of his death, Sept. 19, 2025.
In an interview with The News Tribune on Friday, his mother, Castonya Taylor, said medical examiner’s officials told her they found an issue with her son’s heart that would not have been detected in regular doctor visits and that his death was a “freak accident.” She said the last she heard, the office was conducting genetic testing.
Luke Vogelsburg, director of operations at the Medical Examiner’s Office, declined to confirm or deny Taylor’s statements, citing the confidentiality of autopsy findings under state law, RCW 68.50.105.
“We release limited medical information, i.e., the cause and manner of death, in the interest of transparency and public service, but this is the extent of the medical information we can release publicly,” Vogelsburg said in an email Friday. “Until the cause and manner of death are finalized, this office will not publicly release any additional information.”
Preston died in the bedroom he shared with his older brother in an apartment building on South Lawrence Street. He was a student at First Creek Middle School in Tacoma’s Eastside neighborhood, according to his obituary. It said he had four brothers and six sisters.
“My baby was loved,” Taylor said.
Records state Preston was found with blood coming out of his mouth and nose, but Taylor said there were no other signs of physical trauma such as bruising.
Taylor said she didn’t understand how an issue with Preston’s heart could have caused his death. She said he never had any heart problems, and while he was a “big guy” for his age, he loved basketball and played every day.
A spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, Sgt. John Correa, said Thursday that the department’s investigation into Preston’s death was on hold until the medical examiner issues a cause and manner of death.
The search warrant application filed by police for the apartment unit said there was probable cause to believe second-degree murder had been committed, and that evidence inside was necessary to investigate the offense.
No one has been charged with a crime in connection to Preston’s death, and the only piece of evidence police seized was a cellphone that belonged to the boy. Taylor said law enforcement still has the phone.
Search warrant says boy was dead for ‘some time’
Tacoma police officers responded to the apartment complex in the 4000 block of South Lawrence Street, a 55+ living community, after dispatchers received a report of a 12-year-old child not breathing at 3:14 p.m, according to the search warrant. The caller said blood was coming out of the child’s nose and mouth.
Preston was declared dead after the police and Fire Department personnel found him in the bedroom of a third-floor unit. His mother later told KING 5 News that they were staying there with a friend. According to the search warrant, the Fire Department advised that the boy was in the beginning stages of rigor mortis. The document stated that he had been deceased for “some time.”
The police spoke with Taylor, who reportedly told officers that earlier in the day Preston said he didn’t feel well and went to rest in the bedroom. The mother said she took a shower, and, when she went to check on Preston, he appeared deceased.
Preston’s mother and another adult who shared a room with her were transported to Tacoma police headquarters to be interviewed by detectives.
Taylor said the five months since Preston died have been horrible. She said the boy’s younger brother had taken the death particularly hard.
“I miss my baby so much,” Taylor said. “He kept me on my toes.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the date of Preston Hemingway-Lux’s death.
