On a tragic Friday night in October of 2018, the life of 32-year-old Essie E. Cagey was cut short in a violent act that unfolded on the Lummi Reservation. The events of October 19th concluded a history of domestic turmoil, leaving a community in mourning.
That evening, law enforcement officers from Lummi Law and Order, alongside the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, were dispatched to a residence on Little Beaver Road around 11 p.m. following reports of a shooting.
Upon their arrival, they discovered Essie Cagey with severe gunshot wounds to her chest and abdomen. She was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, but tragically, her injuries proved to be fatal.
The investigation revealed a grim sequence of events. Essie had been in an argument earlier that evening with 37-year-old Alakana L. Halemano. Halemano was present at the home in direct violation of a protection order that had been issued following a domestic violence incident in 2017. Witnesses reported that Halemano left the residence for a brief period, only to return shortly before 11 p.m.
The argument between Cagey and Halemano reignited in a back bedroom of the house. The verbal dispute escalated to horrific violence when Halemano fired multiple shots, striking Cagey. In the immediate aftermath, he turned the gun on himself, taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Others were present in the house at the time, including another adult man and woman and three children, who heard the gunshots. It was the other man in the house who discovered the devastating scene in the bedroom. Fortunately, no one else in the home was physically harmed. A handgun was recovered at the scene by investigators. Due to the nature of the murder-suicide, there were no arrests to be made in the death of Essie Cagey as the sole suspect was deceased.
