‘I want justice.’ Father of Tacoma shooting victim speaks out at juvenile’s court hearing
A 15-year-old teenager accused of fatally shooting a Tacoma man in February shook his head as a judge ordered him to be held in secure detention.
Prosecutors charged the teen with two counts of second-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. He is accused of killing 18-year-old Messiah Washington.
The News Tribune generally does not name juveniles who have not been charged as adults for a crime.
A plea of not guilty was entered on the teen’s behalf during his arraignment at Pierce County Juvenile Court. Judge Joseph Evans ordered he be held in secure detention. Prosecutors have moved to charge the teenager as an adult. A hearing for that motion is scheduled for March 24.
The victim’s father, Jacque Washington, was in the courtroom during the hearing.
“I want justice,” Jacque Washington said after Evans asked if he wanted to address the court.
Jacque Washington was inside the apartment unit that he shared with Washington when the shooting took place inside the building’s elevator. Just before the shooting, the elder Washington told investigators, four or five people knocked on his door and he didn’t open it, saying that the alleged shooters may have killed him as well.
“My son didn’t deserve that,” he said.
The victim was his father’s best friend and took care of him before his death, the victim’s sister, Kiara Deas told The News Tribune. Messiah Washington’s long-term plan after finishing school at Willie Stewart Academy was continuing to take care of their dad, she said.
Charging details
Officers were dispatched at about 9:14 p.m. to the 1100 block of South L Street for a homicide. The apartment building has six floors, and the shooting happened in an elevator, according to charging documents.
Washington’s body was inside the elevator when officers arrived. There were spent shell casings, several bullets and bullet fragments inside the elevator, documents show. He was pronounced dead at the scene after Tacoma Fire personnel attempted life-saving measures.
Officers learned Washington lived with his father on the third floor for about five months, documents show. Washington’s father told officers that five to six people knocked on his door. He could not make out their faces as they were wearing dark hooded jackets.
He heard five to six gunshots and went out to the hallway. He saw the elevator was coming down from the sixth floor. When it opened, he saw his son had been shot, documents show. Washington’s father yelled for help and called 911.
Detectives reviewed surveillance video, which showed about four people on the third floor at about 9 p.m. The people knocked on the Washingtons’ apartment door, prosecutors wrote. Several of the people in the video had their hands tucked inside their coats, which detectives speculated meant they were possibly armed with guns.
Messiah Washington was seen through cameras entering the first floor at about 9:08 p.m., prosecutors wrote. He appeared to have been waiting for someone. He took the elevator to the third floor and got off. The four people got inside the elevator and Washington followed. Prosecutors wrote that might have been when Washington was shot.
A resident from the building told detectives they saw four people who were possibly juveniles outside the building. They were wearing hooded jackets and face masks, prosecutors wrote. They said one of the people tried to pry open a secure door at about 8:30 p.m.
Prosecutors wrote the 15-year-old was identified as the person who tried to open the door.
Washington’s father told detectives that the victim’s friends stay at the apartment often. His father believed Washington might have owed the alleged shooters money but was not sure, documents show. He believes the shooting happened on the sixth floor.
Video from the sixth floor showed the 15-year-old and the other alleged shooters go in and out of an apartment unit. The 15-year-old allegedly had a key to the unit. Just before the shooting, surveillance showed the 15-year-old using a key to lock the unit before going into the elevator with the other alleged shooters.
Detectives learned the 15-year-old resided in the sixth floor unit after going through the lease agreement, documents show.
Prosecutors wrote it appeared that the alleged shooters worked in unison to locate Washington until they found him on the third floor.
