On a late summer night in Tacoma, Washington, the sound of gunfire shattered the quiet near East 38th Street and East Roosevelt Avenue. When the chaos subsided, five people had been shot, and the life of 26-year-old Antoine Jamir Holmes, a Black / African American male from nearby University Place, had been tragically cut short. On that evening of August 13, 2019, at approximately 11:40 p.m., neighbors flooded 911 with calls reporting the sound of 15 to 20 gunshots.
Arriving officers found a grim scene, with Holmes suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The violence of that night also claimed the life of 19-year-old Rigoberto Villagomez-Dillon and left three women, ages 16, 17, and 34, with injuries that they were expected to survive. Before authorities arrived, acquaintances had already rushed Villagomez-Dillon and the three women to local hospitals, but the younger man would succumb to his injuries. The shooting was believed to have erupted during a gathering of family and friends and was considered by authorities to be part of a larger increase in gang-related violence that was troubling the city at the time.
In the immediate aftermath of the double homicide, Tacoma Police detectives launched an investigation, but details about what led to the shooting were not released, and no suspects were immediately identified. As of late 2019, no arrests had been made in direct connection with the murders of Antoine Jamir Holmes and Rigoberto Villagomez-Dillon. The case was further complicated by retaliatory violence. In the days and weeks that followed, other shootings occurred that police believed were connected to the initial incident, including one that resulted in a 19-year-old man being paralyzed. While arrests were made in that subsequent shooting, the individuals responsible for the deaths of Holmes and Villagomez-Dillon have not been publicly identified, and the case appears to remain unsolved.
