A ride home could have been the difference between life and death in Rainier Beach shooting, documents reveal

The family of a Rainier Beach High School student is preparing to sue the school district over his murder at a bus stop after class.

Tra’veiah Houfmuse was a senior and would have turned 18 at the end of February. But he was shot to death, along with Tyjon Stewart, as they waited for a bus near Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street, just steps from their school.

But Tra’veiah “wasn’t supposed to be there,” court documents quote principal Annie Patu as saying to the boy’s grandmother.

And a tort claim alleged he had a safety plan in place that should have prevented him from leaving the school alone. Part of the plan required Tra’veiah to eat lunch in the principal’s office. The other apparently guaranteed him a ride home. Usually, that was done by his uncle who worked in construction nearby.

Grandmother was assured of a ride home for Tra’veiah. No ride came

The claim said Tra’veiah’s uncle wasn’t available on January 30, so his grandmother, Benita Morris, called Urban Family’s Paul Patu, director of one of two community organizations that partner with the school district to offer rides to at-risk students.

“Paul Patu assured Ms. Morris, ‘I got you. I got you covered,'” attorney Lara Hruska of Cedar Law LLP wrote. “Because of these assurances and relying on the school’s knowledge of the existing safety plan, Ms. Morris understood that one of the school’s community partners, Urban Family or Community Passageways, would be providing Tra’veiah with a ride home.”

Apparently, no ride came.

And just after school release, at about 4 p.m., Tra’veiah and Tyjon were shot. They were pronounced dead at the scene. It was his grandmother’s birthday. A 15-year-old was arrested and charged in March for their deaths.

“It’s complex because there’s an intervening criminal act by a third party, but the school had made an affirmative promise to the grandmother, and she’d relied on those assurances,” Hruska told KIRO Newsradio. “In addition to the heightened duty that a school district has to protect students from known dangers, the district had actually made an additional promise pursuant to a safety plan that was understood between the adults that Tra’veiah would be kept safe.”

Most people hear about safety planning at the district level. Tra’veiah, said Hruska, had an individualized plan because he had left campus without permission before. Once, he was hospitalized after a friend crashed a car rushing back to campus. Another time, he was arrested at a restaurant near campus after reports he had a gun. None was recovered.

It’s not clear exactly what happened with the ride last January. Morris, Tra’veiah’s grandmother, said she was assured there would be one. Hruska said her understanding of preliminary interviews was that the mentors who usually provide rides were never asked to give one.

Seattle Public Schools did not immediately respond to questions about the claim or this incident.

Community leaders call for more resources after Rainier Beach shooting

Meanwhile, city and community leaders have called for continued school- and community-based support to divert young people from crime, as well as more funding for community organizations in the aftermath of the shooting.

In March, Urban Family’s Paul Patu was part of a Seattle CityClub panel on gun violence and youth safety (produced by this reporter). He spoke about the need to increase school and community resources.

“When we fail them in schools, when we fail to give certain sections of our society or communities the right resources, livable wage, jobs so that parents can be home part of the time,” Patu said. “That’s the real issue to me is, it’s taking a balanced approach.”

In March, after the Rainier Beach murders, Seattle’s Human Services Department announced it would commit $14.7 million to community organizations providing programs like safe passage and school rides.

Organizations tasked with keeping students safe have complicated track record

Urban Family and Community Passageways were among the grantees.

Urban Family is a Tukwila-based organization that provides one-on-one and group programming in schools and at their facility. Community Passageways provides some overlapping services but also focuses on mentorship and rehabilitation after incarceration.

At least one Seattle City Council member has called for $250,000 in unused funding for city crime cameras to be diverted to community organizations as well. But anti-violence organizations in Seattle are just as complex as the roots of the violence they try to prevent.

In 2021, a 19-year-old was shot to death at a meeting put on by Community Passageways.

In 2025, a graduate of their programs was arrested and charged with shooting two people to death outside a hookah lounge.

Matelita Patu-Jackson, Paul Patu’s sister, also ran an anti-violence organization called SE SafetyNet. She was arrested and charged in a federal drug trafficking investigation.

“I think it’s complicated,” Hruska said. “There’s a lot of dynamics here. I mean, Paul Patu is the brother of the principal of the school as well. It’s a close-knit South Seattle community, and everyone is grieving legitimately. Our small part of this is that there was a systems breakdown that could have been prevented, and that the school district and these community partners were meant to protect him, and they failed.”

Emails to Seattle Public Schools and Community Passageways were not immediately returned.

“Thank you for reaching out,” Patu stated in an email. “Given the seriousness of the situation and the fact that you’ve indicated there is a claim that specifically references me, I need to review this matter with our team and counsel before I can provide any comment or participate in an interview.”

Patu later followed up with an updated response:

I have obtained my AT&T phone records for January 30. The records show no incoming call from Ms. Morris’s number on the morning of January 30. I am willing to provide the relevant records to KIRO for independent verification.

I have concerns with the characterization of Urban Family as having a “complicated track record.” Urban Family should be evaluated on its own record, our history, programs, partnerships and nearly two decades of service to young people and families not through unrelated matters involving other organizations or individuals.

Patu also noted that since the matter involves legal proceedings, he is unable to discuss Tra’veiah’s personal circumstances, characterize specific roles, responsibilities, or actions of any other organizations involved.

KIRO Newsradio will update this story if it gets more responses.

‘This case is devastating’: Attorney says family is hoping for change

The claim filed on behalf of Benita Morris and Tyree Houfmuse doesn’t name a dollar amount for damages. That will come later, Hruska said.

Ultimately, she said Tra’veiah’s family is hoping for change. She said a close examination of the safety plan and related community partner agreements is vague, which could make accountability and oversight of critical programs — like school rides — difficult, leading to tragedy.

“When you make a promise, you have to follow through, or else there can be terrible consequences,” Hruska said. “And this is the most tragic consequence that can happen. This case is devastating.”

Read more of Jillian Raftery’s stories here.