TNT’s top stories: Murder charges, Pierce County food inspections, sign drama

Pierce County saw major developments Tuesday, from murder charges in a Parkland teen’s shooting death to potential cuts to subsidized childcare in Tacoma. Here’s a roundup of the local news you need to know.

• Two people have been charged in the May 24 shooting death of Parkland teenager Braylon Diaz, who was robbed of his gold necklace and shot “without provocation” while walking with his girlfriend, according to charging documents detailed by The News Tribune. Alyssa Marie Vaught-Barr, 26, was charged with first-degree murder as the alleged driver, with bail set at $1 million, while alleged shooter Brandon Torres-Mesa, 21, remains at large, per Pierce County prosecutors.
• Parks Tacoma faces a $9 million budget deficit that could eliminate the Beyond the Bell and Club B after-school programs starting this fall, ending subsidized childcare that has served thousands of Tacoma students since 2019. The program cuts would put 9 full-time and 179 part-time employees out of work, saving Parks Tacoma roughly $1.7 million for Beyond the Bell and $468,400 for Club B in a city where 12.4% of residents live in poverty.
• Charlie’s Restaurant & Lounge in Puyallup racked up 55 red points during a May 28 health inspection for violations including improperly stored raw meats and gravy held at unsafe temperatures between 120-157 degrees, per Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department records. Six Pierce County establishments received 35 or more red points during inspections May 27-29, including Pho Ever & Wok, Indochine Asian Dining Lounge, Andale Feast Mexican Restaurant, Trapper’s Sushi and Maritime Mart, requiring follow-up reinspections.
• Real estate agents in the Tehaleh community near Bonney Lake allege their open house signs were removed May 16 — with costs exceeding $1,000 — while signs for a Brookfield Residential Land event the same day were left untouched. Brookfield maintains the sign removals complied with homeowners association governing documents and Pierce County code and occur year-round, though homeowners and Realtors confronted the HOA board at a May 26 meeting demanding a moratorium on sign removals.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by senior editor Adam Lynn. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.