2 more charged in woman’s fatal shooting. Tacoma police say it was part of drug robbery
Two more men have been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a Tacoma woman they asked to buy drugs from so they could rob her.
On Wednesday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Michael Owen Freeman, 39, and Cody Allen Smith, 26, with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the Sept. 22 death of 42-year-old Soohui Kim.
A third defendant, Michael Deda, 41, has pleaded not guilty to the same charges and is being held on $1 million bail.
Smith was arrested Tuesday and was expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon. Freeman is being held in the Nisqually jail on an unrelated matter .
Police say Deda arranged to buy a form of methamphetamine from Kim and lured her to the 4500 block of South Puget Sound Avenue, where Freeman and Smith allegedly walked up to her SUV and opened fire.
Kim was able to drive away but crashed her SUV near South 47th and South Pine streets. A friend who was with her ran to a nearby convenience store to get help.
Officers responded and found Kim slumped over the steering wheel. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Medical examiners said Kim had been shot twice. The passenger in her SUV suffered a grazing wound to his left arm.
Charging papers give this account of the homicide:
Kim picked up her friend the night of the shooting and spent some time at a casino before going to meet up with Deda, who appeared to be a new customer.
The victim’s friend told police he fell asleep in the car and woke up as Kim was parking on the street about 4:40 a.m.
“Once there, he saw a dark figure behind their vehicle. He and the victim remained in the vehicle and he then heard four shots,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
The friend told detectives he knew Kim had “Clear” with her, a form of meth, and that she had been trying to vet Deda before agreeing to sell him drugs.
Police found five shell casings and broken glass at the scene. Kim’s SUV was shot on both sides, records say.
Investigators used surveillance footage to piece together what happened.
Freeman and Smith went inside a friend’s apartment. Smith picked up a pistol and both men went outside to greet Deda when he arrived in a Honda, records say. Deda then allegedly sent Kim a text about where to meet for the drug deal.
Surveillance cameras caught Freeman and Smith approach Kim’s SUV just as five to six gunshots rang out.
About 10 minutes later, footage allegedly shows them return to the apartment and talk outside.
“Smith appears to mime firing a pistol with his left hand,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Deda allegedly can be overheard expressing concern about text messages on his cell phone directing Kim to the location where she was shot.
Detectives said they were able to place the cell phones of all three defendant’s in the same area at the time of the shooting.
Smith has prior felony convictions for forgery, second-degree identity theft and unlawful possession of a firearm. Freeman has multiple felony convictions, including for first-degree robbery and first-degree assault.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 12:26 PM.
