3rd teen charged in shooting death of 16-year-old boy after attempted robbery in Tacoma
A third teenager has been charged in the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy as he drove away from an attempted robbery in Tacoma.
Pierce County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Masai McClarron, 16, with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for a Jan. 29 shooting that killed 16-year-old Shane Kolowitz.
Also charged in the homicide is a 13-year-old boy and his brother Christopher Slipko, 16.
McClarron and Slipko have been charged as adults. The younger boy is currently charged as a juvenile.
Charging papers give this account of the shooting:
Kolowitz took his pregnant girlfriend and her cousin to buy acid from Christopher Slipko, but Christopher Slipko allegedly pulled a gun during the drug deal and demanded all of Kolowitz’s money.
The two teens struggled over a gun before Kolowitz was able to drive away.
As the car sped off, Slipko said he fired two to three shots. Police believe an unidentified person with Slipko also shot at the victims.
When Kolowitz drove near South 27th Street and South Yakima Avenue, Slipko’s younger brother allegedly opened fire on the car. One of the bullets struck Kolowitz in the neck.
Officers arrived to find him slumped in a Chevy Malibu that had multiple bullet holes in the hood, windshield and passenger door.
The younger brother was arrested shortly afterward when his mother got him on the phone with police, who convinced him to return to the scene.
He told police he was walking down the street when someone in the Chevy pointed a gun at him.
The 13-year-old “said he feared for his safety and aimed his own gun at the driver through the passenger side of the car,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers. “He was adamant he feared he would be shot and acted in self-defense.”
Slipko was arrested Feb. 2.
Detectives suspected there were more people involved, but got evidence after the 13-year-old called his sister from juvenile detention and told her McClarron had been with him and that “the least Masai could do is to tell ‘them’ they pulled a gun on him,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
McClarron’s mother and uncle brought him in to be interviewed Feb. 4 and the teen said he knew his friends had guns but did not know it was going to go down like it did,” records say.
Police served a search warrant at the Slipkos’ apartment and allegedly found two guns, ammunition, drugs and cell phones.
Forensic evidence showed four separate guns were fired in the incident, two at the location where the attempted robbery took place and two near South 27th Street.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 12:18 PM.
