Man run down in Tacoma park last year has died; driver now faces murder charges
A man run over last year during a birthday celebration at a Tacoma park has died, and the woman who allegedly was driving now faces second-degree murder charges.
Pierce County prosecutors have upgraded charges against Mikaela Denise Adair, 27, to also include vehicular homicide and failure to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Adair was arrested shortly after the Aug. 3, 2019, incident at Kandle Park but posted bail after her arraignment.
Charges against her were amended Oct. 1. The victim, 36-year-old Eric Johnson, died June 18.
Court documents give this account:
A group of family members and friends gathered in the park to celebrate someone’s 21st birthday.
In attendance was a man embroiled in a contentious custody battle with his ex-girlfriend. The father had custody of their daughter and a restraining order against her mother; the mother had supervised visitation with the girl.
The mother and some of her friends arrived at the park in Adair’s Acura TL in hopes of seeing her daughter. The father called 911 to report the girl’s mother was violating the restraining order, and the group gathered in the park started to leave to “avoid any further confrontations,” according to charging papers.
“Suddenly, a vehicle... sped through the parking lot, driving up around the line of cars and coming back on the other side,” records say.
Adair’s car twice ran over Johnson.
A gun fell out of Johnson’s pocket and his girlfriend’s father picked it up and allegedly fired six rounds at the Acura when it drove toward them.
Nobody in the vehicle was struck.
Johnson was unresponsive but breathing and taken to an area hospital, where doctors determined his skull had been fractured.
He was taken off life support June 18.
Shortly after the incident, police found Adair’s car parked inside her grandmother’s garage.
She was arrested and initially denied running over Johnson, insisting instead that she’d hit a curb.
“When the detectives asked her if she had accelerated, stopped, then accelerated again, she admitted doing this, saying she stopped because she thought she may have hit someone,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 5:05 AM.
