3 months after a man was found dead in a Tacoma parking lot, it’s ruled a homicide
The death of a man in a Tacoma parking lot three months ago was ruled a homicide this week, police said.
About 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 18, a passerby flagged down a police officer to report finding a man who was unresponsive. The man, later identified as 59-year-old Richard Piel, was found in a parking lot on Puyallup Avenue underneath the Interstate 705 overpass.
Although both the passerby and officer performed CPR on Piel, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide.
His cause of death has not been publicly released.
Investigators will try to determine what happened to Piel and why he was unconscious in the parking lot.
Piel lived most of his life in the Tacoma area and worked in construction and metal recycling.
“He also enjoyed nature and the outdoors and was very interested in doing what he could for the environment,” according to an obituary.
This brings the city’s homicide total to 32 for the year.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 6:44 PM.
