Man killed in shooting in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood ID’ed by medical examiner
A 20-year-old man who died last week in a shooting that broke out in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood was identified Wednesday by the medical examiner.
Lehman Charrod Tucker of University Place died April 18 of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release. The office ruled his death a homicide.
No arrests have been made. The Tacoma Police Department said officers responded at about 1 p.m for reports of a person shot in the 700 block of South Yakima Avenue, one block south of Wright Park. Police said Tucker was taken by a private vehicle to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.
It’s unclear what led to the shooting. An argument was reportedly heard before it occurred. Police spokesperson Wendy Haddow said Thursday she didn’t have any updates on the investigation. She said detectives have been collecting surveillance video from nearby businesses.
It was the 11th killing in the city so far this year. Two more people have died by homicide in the Tacoma area since Tucker’s death. One was a 31-year-old man reportedly shot on Puyallup tribal trust land in the 2100 block of East George Street. The second was a person killed in a shooting Saturday in Central Tacoma.
A childhood friend of Tucker, Gabby Jones, told The News Tribune she first met him when they attended sixth grade together at Cedarcrest Middle School in Spanaway. She said Tucker, who went by his middle name, Charrod, still had the same “firecracker” personality at 20 that he did at 12. Tucker was funny and made people smile, Jones said, and he was known for his love of music and dancing. Whether he was cracking jokes or staging a rap battle in the middle of lunch, she said Tucker attracted attention.
“There wasn’t a person he didn’t know and that didn’t know him,” Jones, 20, said.
Tucker went on to wrestle and run track at Spanaway Lake High School, where Jones said they both graduated in 2020. He competed that year in the WIAA state wrestling championship.
The man’s family started a fundraiser through GoFundMe to raise money to help support Tucker’s two children, an infant and a nearly one-year-old boy. According to the fundraising page, Tucker is survived by his two sons and his mother, stepfather, two younger sisters and a stepbrother.
Jones said Tucker’s death has been hard on his family, and the lack of answers they have so far received about it has made it difficult for them to move forward. She said they’re hoping for someone to speak up and provide information about who shot Tucker.
“We all just really want to see our friend be put to justice, which is what he stood for,” Jones said.
Police have asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers online or by calling 1-800-222-TIPS.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the age of Tucker’s sons.
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 8:39 AM.
