Tacoma man charged with fatal shooting allegedly bragged about the killing afterwards
A Tacoma man has been charged with a fatal shooting outside of a convenience store two weeks ago.
Prosecutors charged Chase Andrew Wilcox, 18, with first-degree murder and second-degree murder for the killing of 59-year-old Ricktor Murphy on Oct. 31, court records show. Tacoma police arrested Wilcox on Tuesday.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Wilcox’s behalf during his arraignment at Pierce County Superior Court on Wednesday. Judge James Orlando set his bail at $1 million.
Charging details
Officers were dispatched at 11:38 p.m. to the 5600 block of South Birmingham Street in Tacoma for a shooting outside a convenience store. Callers to 911 reported hearing seven to eight gunshots and a man bleeding in the parking lot, according to charging documents.
The man, later identified as Murphy, was lying next to a silver Lincoln Navigator with the rear door open. Tacoma Fire personnel took over medical care, but he was pronounced deceased at the scene, prosecutors wrote.
One witness told police he heard two men arguing, prosecutors wrote. He heard one man saying something to the effect of, “You need to get out of here young man.” He then heard the gunshots and walked to the store to find Murphy on the ground.
There were several shell casings on the ground and the glass was shattered on the window of the Lincoln’s rear driver’s door, documents show.
Another witness told detectives the driver of a black Kia “unloaded his gun into the victim.” There were two women with the alleged shooter, prosecutors wrote. One of the women was later alleged to be Wilcox’s stepmother.
Surveillance footage from a nearby church showed Murphy’s Lincoln pulling into the store’s parking lot at 11:18 p.m. A black sedan pulled into the parking lot 20 minutes later next to the Lincoln. A woman got out of the sedan but did not go into the store, prosecutors wrote.
Murphy left the store and walked between the two vehicles. He began backing up his Lincoln but quickly stopped. Prosecutors wrote there appeared to be commotion on the driver’s side of the sedan. The woman appeared to hold back the man in the sedan.
The alleged shooter walked around the rear of the sedan and shot between the two vehicles. The man and the women got back into the sedan and drove out of the parking lot, prosecutors wrote.
A black 2019 Kia Optima was parked in front of a home on South Warner Street, two blocks away from the shooting scene. Prosecutors wrote the vehicle matched the description of the alleged shooter’s sedan. The Kia was registered to two women, one of them being Wilcox’s biological mother.
A witness later reported that two men were arguing outside the store and that he tried to defuse the situation. During the dispute, Murphy went into his back seat to get something, prosecutors wrote. The Kia’s driver got out and shot him. The witness did not believe the women knew there was going to be a shooting.
Another person reported to Crime Stoppers that they had no idea why Wilcox shot the victim but said he was bragging about the killing, prosecutors wrote.
During Wilcox’s arrest on Nov. 12, he declined to be interviewed. When told he was under arrest for murder, Wilcox allegedly replied, “OK.”
When detectives asked Wilcox’s stepmother if she knew why they were at their home, she said, “It’s my son. I know. Yep. Yeah,” prosecutors wrote. The detective asked her if she was present during the shooting and she “affirmed this.” Detectives noted there was allegedly what appeared to be blood on her sandal, prosecutors wrote. That was confirmed after the sandals were seized and tested. It is currently unknown if the blood is Murphy’s.
Weapons were not recovered during the search of Wilcox’s home and car. Investigators did recover ammunition that was similar to the shell casings from the shooting scene, prosecutors wrote.
