Man accused of murder at Tacoma homeless encampment arrested in Spokane
A man accused of killing a person at a Tacoma homeless encampment over pain pills has been arrested and charged in the fatal shooting, authorities said.
Jarmal Packard was charged Monday with first- and second-degree murder, robbery, assault and illegally possessing a firearm, court records show.
Charging papers indicated he may have fled to Idaho, but after The News Tribune published a story early Tuesday, the Tacoma Police Department announced that the suspect in the shooting had been arrested Monday in Spokane.
Police spokesperson Shelbie Boyd said she could not confirm the suspect’s name, but Packard was booked into the Spokane County Jail on Monday, according to the county’s online jail records.
Boyd also described the suspect as 30 years old, but a warrant issued for his arrest said Packard was 25.
Authorities said that Packard is suspected of shooting a man in the chest inside a tent in the 1200 block of Puyallup Avenue on Nov. 21. Witness interviews described an altercation over Oxycodone and more than $2,000 that Packard had allegedly sought from the victim.
Witnesses told police that Packard had been looking for the victim and returned to the encampment. The victim, his girlfriend and another person were inside one tent. Packard allegedly pistol-whipped the third person and then forced the victim to take off all of his clothes and a silver chain and ring.
Packard then purportedly told the occupants of the tent, including the victim, that they had 72 hours to come up with $2,500 or he would come back and kill them and their dog. Packard allegedly kicked one occupant who was not the shooting victim several times in the stomach and chest before shooting the victim once, charging papers say.
When police arrived to the scene, they found the victim, identified as M.P. in charging documents, “wearing only socks and boxer briefs,” with a single gunshot wound to his chest, according to charging papers, adding that officers tried to revive the victim but he was declared dead 15 minutes after they showed up.
Packard had previously been charged with murder in California but was convicted in 2017 of assault with a deadly weapon in that case and served prison time, charging papers say. As such, he was not allowed to own or possess a firearm.
A previous version of this story misstated who Packard allegedly kicked before the fatal shooting.
This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 12:03 PM.
