Woman charged with trying to help husband wanted in connection to fatal Tacoma shooting

Phone records and an eyeglasses receipt suggested a man accused of a recent fatal shooting in Tacoma fled to Portland, and that his wife drove him there, according to court records.

Yancy Ray, 50, has a warrant out for his arrest and is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Hyson Sabb, who was shot and killed Sept. 3 in the 1500 block of South L Street.

And after investigators questioned his wife, 51-year-old Tracey Tamara Norris, they charged her Friday with first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf at arraignment, and Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered her released on her own recognizance.

Court records didn’t list an attorney for her.

According to charging papers:

Ray shot Sabb following an argument outside a friend’s house, after Sabb tried to intervene when a woman offered to help Ray with a marijuana deal, and Ray became angry.

Police didn’t find Ray after the shooting, and they questioned Norris, who told detectives she took Ray to Kent, but that she couldn’t remember exactly where.

While she was being interviewed, investigators looked into her phone records and found her phone had been in Portland two days after the shooting and then returned to Tacoma.

Detectives asked her about that, and she said she had gone to Portland to visit family, but that Ray had not gone with her.

When investigators searched her home, they found a receipt in Ray’s name for eyeglasses from a Portland store, dated two days after the shooting. He had left a pair of glasses at the shooting scene, detectives noted.

Surveillance footage from the Portland store showed Ray and Norris there together, apparently trying to replace the corrective lenses.

The FBI announced Friday that Ray might be staying in the Portland area. He’s described as black, 6 foot 2, 175 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Investigators said he uses the street name Slim, and sometimes goes by Yancy Grayson.

Anyone who encounters Ray is asked to call 911. And anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

This story was originally published September 10, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Woman charged with trying to help husband wanted in connection to fatal Tacoma shooting."