Tacoma man with previous manslaughter conviction now charged in recent fatal shooting
A 45-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the death of Reginald Taylor, who was gunned down May 8 on a Tacoma sidewalk.
Joice Duane Williams was arrested May 25 after police received a number of tips identifying him as being involved in Taylor’s death, court records show.
Williams also is charged with second-degree murder, second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree in Taylor’s death. Not-guilty pleas were enter on his behalf in Pierce County Superior Court on Thursday. Court Commissioner Craig Adams ordered him jailed in lieu of $3 million bail.
The News Tribune previously reported that Taylor, 56, was found at 2:49 a.m. on the sidewalk in the 5400 block of South Tacoma Way. He died at the scene, police said. The Pierce County Medical Examiner reported the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
According to charging documents, Taylor and another man were in the area hoping “to attend an ‘after hours’ party at the Diplomatz Motorcycle Club building on South Tacoma Way.” The men were denied entry because it was a members-only night, the documents state.
“While standing outside on the sidewalk, an argument ensued about a racial slur being used,” prosecutors wrote in an affidavit for the determination of probable cause. The nature of the slur was not reported in the court records. Taylor was Black, as is Williams, according to court records.
Taylor then got into a fistfight with a man later identified as Williams’ brother, according to the affidavit.
“During the fight, a male identified as defendant Joice D. Williams, fired a handgun at the victim, then pointed the handgun at [the man with Taylor],” court records show.
The gunman then ran to a Jeep Cherokee which sped away. Investigators found a .45-caliber shell casing near Taylor’s body, according to court records..
A GoFundMe site created by Taylor’s family says he was a father to six children and had 14 grandchildren, The News Tribune previously reported.
Williams has prior felony convictions, two of which are considered “strike” offenses under Washington’s “three strikes” law: first-degree burglary in 2012 and second-degree manslaughter in 2002.
In the manslaughter case, Williams was convicted in the fatal shooting of Antonio Barnes, who was unarmed, during a 2001 argument in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, according to The News Tribune’s archives. Williams was sentenced to 8-1/2 years in prison in that case.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 12:41 PM.
