63-year-old blind advocate slain by 18-year-old after road rage incident
Jan 14, 2025, 8:32 AM | Updated: 8:35 am
Steven Bird, 63, an advocate for those suffering from blindness and other disabilities around the Tacoma region. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
An 18-year-old has been charged with killing a 63-year-old blind man and advocate during a road rage incident in Burien last month.
On Dec. 2, the 18-year-old suspect, Naim Hicks, was driving an SUV without the headlights on. After failing to stop at a stop sign, Hicks nearly hit Steven Bird while he was attempting to cross an intersection with his friends.
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After one of the friends threw their keys at the SUV once it passed, the SUV stopped. The driver, Hicks, got out of the car and confronted them. According to charging documents obtained by KIRO 7, Hicks punched Bird, who’s legally blind, causing him to fall and hit his head against the pavement. Bird’s brother-in-law, Doug Williams, confirmed that Bird was taken off life-support and died five days after the altercation.
A witness claimed they heard the fall from six stories above.
“We had 60 people in our house the Friday after it happened,” Doug and Andrea Williams told KIRO 7. “Steve (Bird)’s community of friends was large, very large.”
Once he lost his sight, he used his charisma and positive attitude to become an advocate for the disabled community in and around Tacoma. Part of Bird’s advocacy work included trying to make it safer for people to get around without a car.
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“Steven was the kind of person that always wanted to help, to help make things better, to help people,” Laura Svancarek, interim executive director at Downtown on the Go, told KIRO 7.
The suspect was charged with second-degree murder after he was arrested last Thursday. He’s currently being held on $1 million bail.
A memorial service for Bird is being planned for next month.
Contributing: KIRO 7
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
