Death of woman found at Tacoma encampment ruled a homicide
The death of a woman whose body was found on Tacoma’s Eastside last year is now being investigated as a homicide.
Syretta Brown, 35, was discovered Nov. 13 in a tent behind a Fire Department station near the intersection of East McKinley Avenue and East 38th Street. She had been dead “for an extended amount of time,” police said in a news release.
Brown’s family said she suffered a broken jaw and stab wound to the face. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released a cause of death.
Tacoma police on Monday said they changed the status of the investigation after medical examiners ruled the case a homicide Feb. 11.
Brown’s death being deemed a homicide brings the city’s total last year to 32, which ties the amount from 2020. That’s the highest homicide count since 1994.
Debora Underwood, Brown’s mother, said her daughter struggled with mental health issues and drug use. She hadn’t recently spoken with Brown before she was killed and said Brown had been staying at a boarding house before being kicked out and moving into the encampment.
Brown is survived by her mother, a brother and two sons, ages 3 and 9. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family.
She served in the military, according to loved ones.
“A cold reality is that life happens and sometimes we get off course, especially when you battle a mental health disorder like Syretta,” her childhood friend Denise Nichols wrote on the fundraising page.
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 12:51 PM.
