Man killed in Tacoma homeless encampment shooting identified by medical examiner
A 39-year-old man who Tacoma police believe was shot dead during a robbery at a homeless encampment last year in the city’s Dome District has been identified.
Michael Perdue died Nov. 21 of a gunshot wound to the chest, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release issued Tuesday. His death was ruled a homicide.
A Federal Way man and a woman described by investigators as his girlfriend have been arrested and charged in Pierce County Superior Court with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and other offenses related to the killing. Prosecutors alleged that Jarmal Packard, 25, fired a single gunshot at Perdue’s chest after an argument over pain pills and money inside a tent in the 1200 block of Puyallup Avenue.
After the shooting, Ivory Lynch-Johnson, 23, allegedly drove Packard from the scene. According to charging documents, nearby surveillance footage showed the couple fleeing in a Volvo.
Packard was arrested in Spokane in December after police there responded to a report of two people illegally living in a vacant home. Packard and Lynch-Johnson were found, and a search of their vehicle led investigators to find ammunition that matched the shell casing police located at the scene of the Tacoma homicide.
Lynch-Johnson was taken to a women’s shelter at the time, according to court records, and she was arrested in March. Jail records show she and Packard remain in custody.
The two pleaded not guilty to their charges when they appeared for their arraignments in Pierce County. Their cases are ongoing. Packard has previously served time in prison after he was charged with murder in California and was convicted in 2017 of assault with a deadly weapon, according to charging papers. Lynch-Johnson has no prior felony convictions.
Witnesses told Tacoma Police Department officers that before the shooting, Packard took most of the man’s clothing, a silver chain and a ring. The defendant allegedly believed Perdue owed him oxycodone, and witnesses said Packard told him and others in the tent they had three days to come up with $2,500. Records state Packard then kicked another man in the tent before shooting the victim.
