Two 16-year-olds arrested for murder of 18-year-old in Tacoma apartment elevator

The Tacoma Police Department (TPD) arrested two 16-year-olds April 5 in connection to the murder of an 18-year-old man in Tacoma who was shot in an apartment building elevator.

The victim, Messiah Washington, was a student at the Willie Stewart Academy. He lived with his father on the third floor of the apartment building in the 1100 block of South L Street in Tacoma. Washington was killed Feb. 22.

“Officers responded and located an adult male with gunshot wounds,” TPD stated in a press release. “They immediately initiated life-saving measures until Tacoma Fire Department personnel arrived. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

The 16-year-old suspects, Kaleb Prince Tramble and Kaleb Johnny Whiteside, were charged with first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder by the Pierce County Superior Court, which charged them as adults. Both Tramble and Whiteside were on electronic home monitoring for unrelated felonies at the time of their arrests. They were booked into Remann Hall.

Tramble was additionally charged with unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree.

Additional suspects in the shooting

A third defendant, a 15-year-old boy who allegedly was the first to shoot the victim, according to The Tacoma News Tribune, was charged March 18 in Pierce County Juvenile Court with multiple counts, including first-degree murder, but is not in custody, as of this reporting.

A fourth suspect, another 15-year-old boy, was arrested last month on March 5 for his involvement in the fatal shooting. He pleaded not guilty and is currently being held in detention at Remann Hall.

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