In the damp chill of a January evening in Seattle, the life of 45-year-old Caucasian woman Jeannine Louise Brooks-Zapata was tragically cut short. On January 26, 2016, she was visiting old friends in a homeless encampment known as "The Jungle" when gunfire erupted, leaving her and another person dead, and three others wounded. Her family wants her to be remembered not for the circumstances of her death, but for the vibrant person she was.
They say that in the years leading up to her death, she had overcome addiction, was no longer homeless, and was happily living with her partner.
The investigation into the shooting moved quickly, and six days later, police arrested three teenage brothers, ages 13, 16, and 17. The motive for the brutal attack was determined to be a drug-related robbery. The brothers had gone to the encampment to collect on a $500 drug debt owed to their mother. During the commission of the robbery, they opened fire on the group gathered around a fire, stealing heroin and a few hundred dollars in cash.
The two older brothers, James and Jerome Taafulisia, were charged as adults with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault. The youngest brother was charged as a juvenile. The subsequent legal proceedings were lengthy, with the two older brothers facing two mistrials due to hung juries before finally being found guilty in their third trial in December 2019. In August 2020, James and Jerome Taafulisia were each sentenced to 40 years in prison for their roles in the deadly shooting. The youngest brother was convicted in juvenile court in 2018 and was ordered to remain in custody until he turned 20.
