Medical examiner identifies Tacoma woman killed in drive-by at Hosmer Street motel
A 42-year-old Tacoma woman who was killed last month in a drive-by shooting outside a motel in the city’s South End was identified Wednesday by the Pierce County medical examiner.
Desiree Carlisle died July 23 of a gunshot wound to the head, according to a news release from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office. The office ruled her death a homicide. Law enforcement has said the woman was sitting in a parked car in the 8800 block of South Hosmer Street when the shooting occurred.
The killing was the 28th homicide in Tacoma so far this year. Since then, two more people have been victims of homicide in the city, neither of whom have been identified.
Two days after Carlisle was killed, Tacoma Police Department arrested a 20-year-old man who was spotted by officers in a car suspected to be connected to the shooting. Police said he tried to flee but then crashed into another vehicle and was arrested.
The suspect, Nazieere Thomas, has been charged in Pierce County Superior Court with Carlisle’s murder. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf at arraignment.
According to charging documents, witnesses reported seeing a car about five minutes before the shooting. Three people were with the victim when it circled around and shot at them as it drove past. Police responded about 8:50 p.m., and Carlisle was declared dead on the scene by Tacoma Fire Department personnel.
No motive for the killing is described in charging documents, and no relationship between Thomas and the victim is described.
Police later found a bullet hole in the back window and several shell casings on the ground nearby, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Using surveillance footage, the suspect vehicle was identified as a Honda Insight.
Detectives determined the vehicle was a rental car through Zip Car and that it had been stolen from a tow lot on July 19, records say. When detectives contacted Zip Car, they learned the car’s GPS showed that when the fatal shooting occurred, the Honda was in the 9000 block of South Hosmer Street.
The car was later found outside a residence on 70th Avenue Court West, and police saw the defendant get in and drive away. That’s when officers pursued and arrested him.
This story was originally published August 3, 2022 at 9:24 AM.
