On the night of Halloween, October 31, 2024, Ricktor Murphy, a 59-year-old Black / African American male, was fatally shot in Tacoma, Washington. The incident occurred just after 11:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a convenience store in the 5600 block of South Birmingham Street. Witnesses reported hearing seven to eight gunshots. When emergency responders arrived, they found Murphy with multiple gunshot wounds.
Despite life-saving efforts by the Tacoma Fire Department, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that his death was a homicide resulting from these wounds.
The events leading to the shooting began with a brief argument in the parking lot. Murphy, who had just bought nachos from the store, commented on the speed at which a black Kia had pulled into the parking lot. The driver of the Kia was 18-year-old Chase Andrew Wilcox, who was accompanied by two women, one of whom was his stepmother. The verbal exchange escalated quickly. Surveillance footage showed a woman appearing to try and hold Wilcox back before he walked around the car and fired multiple shots at Murphy. One witness heard Murphy say something to the effect of, “You need to get out of here young man,” before the gunshots rang out. After the shooting, Wilcox and the two women fled the scene in the Kia.
Following an investigation by the Tacoma Police Department, Chase Andrew Wilcox was arrested on November 12, 2024, and booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. An anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers indicated that Wilcox had been bragging about the killing, claiming he was defending his mother. Wilcox was subsequently charged with first-degree and second-degree murder. At his arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court, he pleaded not guilty, and his bail was set at $1 million.
Ultimately, Wilcox struck a plea deal and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter with a deadly weapon. On July 22, 2025, he was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison, the maximum sentence for the charge. During the sentencing, Ricktor Murphy's family and loved ones spoke of him as a loving father figure and a mentor in his community, known for his involvement in sports and his positive influence on young people. Murphy had been working as a sanitation contractor for Pierce County and was anticipating a promotion to a position with the City of Tacoma at the time of his death.
