Sister of Tacoma man shot inside elevator said he almost made it home before killing
Messiah Washington, 18, was just a few steps away from his apartment unit when he was gunned down inside an elevator.
Described as a “big teddy bear,” Washington was his father’s best friend. He took care of his father and loved to cook for him, trying to perfect every meal, the victim’s sister, Kiara Deas, told The News Tribune on Monday.
“He was there a lot for our dad and at a young age. He was doing a lot of the things that most kids aren’t doing at his age,” Deas said. “He was an easy-going guy, and I think he just got taken advantage of.”
Washington was shot Feb. 22 in his apartment building near the 1100 block of South L Street. He died at the scene after Tacoma Fire personnel attempted life-saving measures, The News Tribune reported. No arrests have been made.
Deas said Washington almost made it to the apartment unit that he shared with their father before the shooting. Their father was inside the unit when about five guys wearing hoods knocked the door. When their father looked out, he saw the guys get on the elevator. Next thing he knew, he heard gunshots.
“I think his intuition told him to go check, because usually, you know, when you hear gunshots, you’re not going to go out and check. Something about the situation made him go in out there and go check to see what was going on,” she said.
Deas said their father watched his son take his last breath.
“He’s definitely on the inside, he’s definitely struggling, not really sleeping at night,” she said. “I think our main thing is really just figuring out who did this.”
Deas said her dad did not see the guys’ faces, and she hopes the building’s cameras will help identify the people who might have killed her brother.
Right now, she said, her family is focusing on getting the word out of her brother’s killing and keeping his story relevant so someone might come forward.
“In my opinion, I feel like this is not the first time that whoever did this, I don’t think this is the first time that they’ve done something like this, and we just really want to get them off the streets,” Deas said.
Deas said her family would like to put something together to help other young men that might fall in the wrong crowd to make different choices.
“I think that [Washington] got caught up in something that he just didn’t know how to get himself out of. And I think that having guidance for other young men and showing them like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to do this,’ just having that voice will help other people,” she said.
Deas said her brother was a student at Willie Stewart Academy, and his long term plan was taking care of their dad.
“My dad raised my brother. Him and my dad were together every day,” she said. “He was very respectful, like you never would hear him being disrespectful to any adult. He had a lot of family around him, and we have a lot of people who loved him.”
Deas said she believes “nothing is worth a life.”
“People are just losing their life and taking other life over nothing,” she said. “We just have to stop the gun violence.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to raise funds to support Washington’s family as they take the time to grieve.
