Tacoma police arrest alleged driver in suspected 2020 gang killing; gunman on the lam

Tacoma police have arrested the alleged getaway driver from a fatal August 2020 shooting that investigators believe was connected to gang activity and revenge for escalating violence, according to charging documents.

The whereabouts of the man who allegedly shot dead 25-year-old Ty A. Jenkins, of Tacoma, in an Emerald Queen Casino parking garage remain unclear. He has not been charged and was not listed on the Pierce County Jail roster.

Police Department spokesperson Wendy Haddow told The News Tribune that officers are working to bring him into custody.

Charging documents say detectives first connected the alleged gunman and gang member to the crime, then determined 29-year-old David Sekou Sebowa Ward, a family member, may have helped. Prosecutors wrote surveillance footage and cell phone data suggest Ward was in the area at the time.

Law enforcement secured a warrant for Ward’s arrest for first-degree murder on Jan. 31, according to court records. Police arrested the Tacoma man on Tuesday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Craig Adams ordered Ward jailed in lieu of $1.5 million bail during his arraignment Wednesday.

Ward has no known criminal convictions, according to court documents. He told officials he’d been living with his mother and charging papers do not specify any affiliation with street gangs.

About two hours before the shooting, surveillance footage captured Jenkins entering the casino with another person, charging documents show. The pair left minutes before the shooting and separated as they reached the parking garages.

Meanwhile, the gunman got out of the passenger seat of a red Toyota Corolla, entered the garage and shot Jenkins from behind several times around 12:30 a.m., according to charging documents citing surveillance footage. The shooter then jogged back to the Corolla and left the area. The license plate appeared to be from Washington but wasn’t readable.

Court documents say FBI agents were involved in the early stages of the investigation and conducted preliminary witness interviews at the shooting scene. The Emerald Queen Casino is owned by the federally recognized Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

Tacoma police assembled their case in part through Jenkins’ reputation as a “continuous shooter” for a local set of a Crips street gang and ballistic analysis of a pistol found on his body, charging documents show. Test fires from Jenkins’ 9 mm matched casings recovered at four Pierce County shootings and a Federal Way homicide. Police also found a rifle in his car.

Detectives learned Jenkins was reportedly robbed in early 2020 during a firearms transaction involving his alleged killer and another man, both suspected to be members of a rival Crips set, according to charging documents.

Jenkins may have sought revenge in July 2020, when the suspected gang member not involved in his killing was shot nine times and a 17-year-old associate, Brice Armstrong, of Tacoma, was gunned down in Federal Way, charging documents show. A 12-year-old boy also was injured

The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab matched at least some of the shell casings at the scene to Jenkins’ 9 mm pistol, leading police to believe he played a part in the shooting, according to charging documents.

“This shooting would make Jenkins a potential target for a revenge shooting,” investigators wrote in charging documents.

Surveillance footage and witness statements from Jenkins’ killing matched descriptions of the alleged gunman, according to charging documents. The shooter also wore four large rings on his left hand, which matched social media images of the suspect

The afternoon following the shooting, a man matching the suspected gunman’s description was captured on surveillance footage pawning four rings, charging documents show. Detectives recovered the jewelry at the pawn shop.

Ward is pictured on the suspect gunman’s social media and police believe they are half-brothers, according to charging documents. Vehicle registration records showed Ward owned a red Corolla and detectives who surveilled him observed the car’s distinctive rims and other features matched security footage from the casino shooting.

Cell phone data revealed Ward’s phone connected to a tower north of the crime scene about 20 minutes prior to the shooting, then connected to a tower about 1,000 feet from the casino around the time police were dispatched, charging documents show. At 12:41 a.m., about 10 minutes after police responded, Ward’s phone connected to a tower southwest of the casino.

A number listed for Ward’s home address in court records appeared to be disconnected on Thursday afternoon.