Here’s how homicides in Tacoma compare to last year’s rate
Tacoma’s homicide rate seems to be slowing down a bit following the deadliest year in more than two decades.
So far this year, there have been 14 homicides in the city. That’s fewer than the 18 that occurred by mid-July in 2020.
Last year saw 32 homicides, which was the biggest uptick since 1994, when 33 people were killed.
Police say they’re hopeful the numbers will remain low.
“We hope that this is a sign that we are continuing a trend downward,” spokeswoman Shelbie Boyd said.
The first homicide of the year was Jan. 10, when 27-year-old Stephanie Chaipis was severely beaten in her home and died about a week later. Her husband told police he was high on methamphetamine and has been charged in her death. Chaipis was eight weeks pregnant when she died.
There was one double homicide on May 9 when somebody gunned down William Jones and Milton Slaughter in a parking lot on South Tacoma Way. Detectives have not arrested anyone in connection with their deaths.
Most of the homicides this year have been shootings (9), but there have been two stabbings and one fatal beating . Medical examiners have not determined the cause of death in two cases.
Some of them involved domestic violence, like Chaipis and a 55-year-old man shot to death by his wife. Others were killed by strangers, as in the case of an off-duty security guard who was accosted by a man outside a store. Some were over attempted robberies and drugs, like the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man who thought he was selling marijuana.
Sunday marked the most recent cases.
One was a 39-year-old man fatally shot in the 5600 block of Pacific Avenue. The other was a security guard who was found dead when a colleague arrived at an office building on A Street to relieve her of duty. Prosecutors say she was severely beaten and choked by a drunken U.S. Army Ranger who tried to enter the building she was working in.
Arrests have been made in nine homicides this year, giving detectives a 64 percent solve rate.
Out of all law enforcement jurisdictions in Pierce County, Tacoma police have had the most homicides this year.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is working nine cases, Lakewood police three and there have been two in Puyallup.
Homicides in Tacoma in 2021:
Jan. 10: Stephanie Chaipis
Jan. 11: Tracy Baker
Jan. 18: Kieyree Marcel Spencer
Jan. 28: Shane Kolowitz
Feb. 6: Terrance A. Paige
March 14: Andrew Schoolmaster
April 6: Mariela Vargas-Brown
April 10: Frank Hahn
April 22: Tuuaipea Masaniai
May 9: William Jones
May 9: Milton Slaughter
July 8: Victor Martin Lee Davis
July 18: Leroy Navarro
July 18: Denise Smith
This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 10:54 AM.
