Messiah Washington, an 18-year-old Black male from Tacoma, was killed on February 22, 2025, in the Housing Hilltop South apartment complex in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood. Washington lived in the building with his father, Jacque Washington, and was attending Willie Stewart Academy. His family described him as kind and considerate and said he played an important role in helping care for his father, who uses a wheelchair. Shortly after 9 p.m.
that night, South Sound 911 began receiving reports of gunfire in the 1100 block of South L Street. Washington’s father later said a group had come to their apartment door shortly before the shooting, but he did not open it. Moments later, he heard gunshots. When he went into the hallway and summoned the elevator, the doors opened to reveal his son suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Police and firefighters attempted lifesaving measures, but Washington was pronounced dead at the scene. The Pierce County Medical Examiner determined that he died from multiple gunshot wounds and classified the death as a homicide.
Surveillance footage and court records gave investigators a clearer picture of what happened in the minutes before the killing. Washington was seen in the apartment building’s lobby and later entered an elevator while looking down at his cellphone. Investigators said a group surrounded him inside the elevator, and court documents described the attack as an ambush. One person allegedly signaled another member of the group to move aside before gunfire erupted. Authorities said Washington suffered 21 bullet wounds. Surveillance footage also reportedly showed members of the group fleeing afterward, with at least two people appearing to carry firearms. Investigators recovered a revolver belonging to Washington, but later reporting on the charging documents said there was no indication that the weapon had been fired during the confrontation.
The investigation quickly expanded from a search for an unknown gunman into a case involving several juvenile suspects. On March 5, Tacoma police arrested the first suspect in the same South L Street area where the shooting occurred and booked him into Remann Hall. Police initially announced that he had been booked for first-degree murder, while subsequent court reporting described one defendant arrested during that phase of the investigation as facing second-degree murder and unlawful-possession-of-a-firearm allegations. By early April, two additional suspects had been arrested. Court reporting identified Kaleb Johnny Whiteside and Kaleb Prince Tramble among the defendants connected to the killing. Whiteside was charged with murder and was ordered held on $5 million bail during an April court appearance. Prosecutors said he had previous convictions that included motor-vehicle theft, identity theft, robbery and attempted robbery, and court records indicated that defendants in the case had been under electronic home monitoring for unrelated offenses when Washington was killed.
Prosecutors alleged that the group had been watching or moving through Washington’s apartment complex before confronting him in the elevator. Later court reporting indicated investigators were examining robbery as a possible motive. According to accounts of the charging papers, detectives believed the group may have been attempting to rob Washington’s father or another person associated with stolen firearms that had allegedly been advertised online. Earlier reporting also noted suggestions that money may have been part of the dispute, although authorities did not initially announce a definitive motive. The allegation that Washington was armed also surfaced during the investigation, but authorities said the revolver found with him had not been discharged during the attack.
The prosecution changed significantly as the cases moved through juvenile and superior court. One defendant who had originally faced a murder charge ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted robbery after prosecutors dismissed the homicide charge. In September 2025, that defendant was sentenced to between 103 and 129 weeks in juvenile rehabilitation, roughly two years and two months to two years and eight months. A deputy prosecutor said in the dismissal paperwork that obtaining an adult homicide conviction against that defendant was considered unlikely if the case went to trial. At that point, proceedings against the remaining defendants were still continuing.
Another suspect remained a fugitive for much of 2025. That defendant, who was wanted on first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy-to-commit-murder charges, was finally arrested on November 29 after a separate confrontation with Seattle police. According to authorities, officers encountered a stolen Dodge Durango containing several young people after it had been speeding and weaving through traffic. Police said the vehicle fled, and someone inside later fired toward an unmarked police vehicle as the group traveled south on Interstate 5. No officer was injured, but another motorist’s vehicle was struck. Police eventually stopped the SUV in the Tukwila area with a PIT maneuver, and the wanted suspect was taken into custody along with several others. His arrest meant that all four suspects authorities had connected to Washington’s killing had at some point been taken into custody.
By February 2026, Kaleb Prince Tramble’s prosecution had moved into Pierce County Superior Court after juvenile jurisdiction was declined. Tramble pleaded not guilty and was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. A judge ordered him held at Remann Hall on $1 million bail. Prosecutors alleged that another participant first opened fire inside the elevator and that Tramble then fired an additional shot at Washington. With the case transferred to adult court, Tramble faced further pretrial proceedings and the possibility of a full murder trial. As of the most recent reporting located, the various defendants had not all reached final dispositions: one had received the juvenile attempted-robbery sentence, while murder prosecutions against others were still proceeding.
