On a tragic evening in Lakewood, Washington, a 33-year-old Asian woman named Gloria Goeun Choi lost her life in a violent act of domestic violence. On January 2, 2022, while on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, Choi was run off the road and shot to death. The harrowing incident occurred near the 6100 block of 112th Street West, where responding officers found Choi inside her crashed Ford Ranger, pushed against a telephone pole.
She was rushed to Madigan Army Medical Center but ultimately succumbed to her injuries. An autopsy would later reveal she had been shot ten times.
The perpetrator was identified as her 46-year-old ex-boyfriend, William Lee Rickman. The couple had broken up two months prior to the murder. In the month leading up to her death, Choi had been subjected to a campaign of harassment and stalking by Rickman. She had sought help from law enforcement in Pierce, Thurston, and Lewis counties on multiple occasions and had obtained a court order prohibiting Rickman from contacting her. Despite these efforts, Rickman's menacing behavior continued. Just days before her murder, Rickman allegedly followed Choi, broke into her truck, slashed a tire, and stole personal belongings. Choi had expressed to friends her fear that Rickman would kill her if she ended their relationship.
On the night of her death, a frantic Choi called 911 around 7:25 p.m., reporting that her ex-boyfriend was following her and was armed. The dispatcher heard hysterical screaming and pounding, followed by a rapid succession of at least eight gunshots. A few moments after the screaming stopped, another five gunshots were heard. Rickman fled the state after the murder and was later apprehended in Humboldt County, California.
William Lee Rickman was extradited to Pierce County and charged with aggravated first-degree murder. Following an eight-day trial, a jury found him guilty after approximately two hours of deliberation. In December 2023, Rickman was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Gloria Choi. Subsequently, Choi's estate filed a lawsuit against the city of Lakewood and its police department, alleging they had failed to protect her despite numerous reports of Rickman's threatening behavior and violations of the no-contact order.
