‘He didn’t deserve this.’ Man fatally shot by Pierce County deputies identified
The longtime girlfriend of a man who was fatally shot this week by Pierce County deputies during a felony-harassment investigation said he deserved a chance to give his side of the story.
LJ Causey, 32, was killed on Dec. 29 from multiple gunshot wounds. His manner of death was listed as a homicide, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Deputies were dispatched at 2:01 a.m. to the 8500 block of 156th Street Court East in the South Hill area for a suspicious vehicle. A man inside the vehicle reportedly fired a gunshot outside a home, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office in a blotter post.
He was sleeping when deputies arrived. After speaking with the alleged victims, probable cause was established to arrest him for felony harassment.
After deputies tried to contact the man in the vehicle, shots were fired. Deputies attempted life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. No deputies were injured.
Lacey Alexander told The News Tribune via Facebook Messenger she had known Causey since she was in second grade, and they had been together for 14 years. She said Causey did not deserve to be killed.
“He didn’t deserve this no matter the allegations. He deserved a chance to give his side. Not just the word of a drug addict at the well known drug house down the road,” Alexander said. “He was parked on his property that I own, in his truck registered in our name together.”
Alexander said Causey was a father to three children, and he changed his life “tremendously” in the last 12 years for his family. Causey has a previous conviction from 2012 for second-degree robbery in Pierce County. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a controlled substance, which was vacated in 2022 through the State v. Blake Supreme Court decision, which declared the state’s drug possession law unconstitutional.
“He would take the shirt off his back and the last dollar in his pocket if they needed it,” she said. “Always the first person the family called for everything.”
Causey worked doing scrap metal independently for many years, according to Alexander.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team is investigating the shooting. In accordance with departmental policies, three deputies were placed on administrative leave.
