A 14-year-old girl killed Wednesday in a shooting in Tacoma was a passenger in a car with friends on their way to buy snacks at a convenience store when two teenagers opened fire on them, according to court documents.
The victim's mother told police her daughter was gone for only five minutes when the car returned and she learned her daughter had been shot.
Jeremiah Anthony Greg Averitt, 17, and Christopher Anthony P Felizardo, 17, were charged Friday in Pierce County Superior Court with second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
They are accused of shooting at a car full of five or six young people Wednesday morning near the intersection of South 19th Street and MLK Jr. Way in the city's Hilltop neighborhood. Iyana Ussery was struck on the right side of her torso, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to charging documents, the shooting may have been gang-related. A victim told police that Averitt and a boy in the car that was shot at had been feuding because of rival gang membership.
Pleas of not guilty were entered on the defendants' behalf at arraignment Friday afternoon. The News Tribune is naming the teenagers despite them being minors because, due to their age and the severity of their charges, they will automatically be tried as adults. Superior Court Judge Edmund Murphy ordered that news media attending the arraignment not record images or video of the teenagers.
Both defendants have no prior felony convictions, deputy prosecuting attorney Lisa Wagner said.
Murphy granted the prosecutor's request for $1 million bail for both Averitt and Felizardo. In her argument requesting that amount, Wagner said she was concerned about the recklessness of the defendants' alleged actions. She said shooting not only at the victims in the vehicle but also in a populated area of the city put multiple people at risk.
"I'm also concerned about Mr. Averitt because the deceased victim's mother has noted that she had seen this defendant in this neighborhood armed and shooting a firearm off," Wagner said. "Again, that's just a recklessness that I think is the hallmark of what we're seeing here.
Wagner also pointed out that the guns used in this shooting had not been recovered by law enforcement. She said the shooting "apparently is gang-motivated," and that victims and witnesses had concerns about retaliation.
The deadly shooting sparked outrage and outpouring of grief from Tacoma leaders and residents. In a statement released the day of the killing, Mayor Victoria Woodards said she was "beyond devastated" and was "furious." On Thursday, hundreds of residents, community activists and local politicians gathered near the site of the shooting to support the victim's family and call for an end to gun violence.
Gunshots also struck Ezell's Fried Chicken across from the convenience store the victims were driving to. According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, employees told police they heard five to nine gunshots, some of them shattering the front door and hitting a window at the business, sending customers inside running and ducking for cover.
Police announced Thursday afternoon that two 17-year-olds had been arrested in connection to the girl's killing. Tacoma Police Department spokesperson Wendy Haddow said detectives suspect the shooting was targeted, but that it was unclear who the target was.
According to charging documents, it was Ussery's mother who called 911 from the 1900 block of South Ainsworth Avenue, where the victim vehicle drove after the shooting.
The victim's mother described Ussery as the "glue that held the family together," court records state. She said Ussery helped take care of her younger siblings and said she was a model student who was about to attend high school.
