Before going to a street takeover in Belltown on Sept. 6, 17-year-old Kaleb Osborne promised his worrying mother, “I’ll be home and I will not get shot.”
Amanda Osborne, his 38-year-old mother, had set rules for the teenager after the takeovers he attended had turned dangerous: Don't get too far into the crowd and don't start anything with anyone, not even to help his friends.
But now, she is grieving the loss of her oldest son after he was killed in a shooting that she said involved those whom he met at the takeover, where people typically gather at intersections to watch drivers perform doughnuts and other maneuvers in their cars.
Seattle police said the teenager from Yelm, a small city in Thurston County, was killed after a fight broke out in which a 21-year-old was also seriously injured.
“I’m so angry, I’m so sad, I'm so traumatized,” Amanda said Wednesday.
The shooting was one of three that happened in less than 24 hours within blocks of each other in Belltown, which left three injured and three dead: 17-year-old Osborne, 23-year-old Tionna Simpson, and 20-year-old Isaac Rios.
What happened that night, Amanda said, she only heard from her son's friends and saw on videos they shared with her that captured the moment her son was killed.
Osborne had met two people at the street takeover who may have been in a gang and went over to Pier 66 with them to hang out, when two of their “rivals” approached, Amanda said. Her son’s new friends started antagonizing the others, and Osborne, unarmed, tried to break it up. But shots were fired, and he was caught in the middle.
It wasn’t until two days after the shooting that Amanda got confirmation of her son’s death from the King County medical examiner’s office.
Amanda said Osborne’s friends sent her the addresses of who they believe the shooters are. Her sister has taken her keys to keep her from going over to their homes and confronting them.
Seattle police Thursday could not provide additional details about the incident. No one has been arrested in connection with his death.
'Kaleb was my protector'
From the moment he was born, “Kaleb was my protector,” Amanda said. “He saved me.”
Amanda said her son helped her turn her life around before he was even born. She was “down a very hard road” with a bad group of people who “didn’t care if we were alive or not,” but when she found out she was pregnant, she got sober.
As he grew up, Osborne “was a bright light that was born into our family,” Amanda said.
He would keep her mother company, watching Buddy Alan videos and the game show “Wipeout” with her and making a plate of grapes, cheese and crackers for her to snack on. When she went in for dialysis, he would sit with her for 4 ½ hours.
When Amanda’s mother died less than a year ago, Osborne “couldn’t find an outlet” for his grief until a few friends he’d met at the park took him to a street takeover, his mother said.
He was charismatic, curious and always loved people, Amanda said. He was an outdoorsy guy, loving to swim and hike. He loved learning about World War II history and the Army, playing video games and practicing judo and taekwondo. He also loved cars — his favorites were Camaros and Mustangs.
Tanner Wilks met Osborne as an 18-year-old missionary with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the same complex. Osborne, 11 at the time, ran up to Wilks and his companion and “started chatting our ear off right away,” he said.
They became buddies, throwing flips over pillows in Osborne's living room that he never seemed to get better at, said Wilks, now 24.
But soon the missionary became a mentor. Even after Wilks left, eventually moving to Utah, they would FaceTime, and Osborne would seek advice about finances, self-improvement and identity.
Wilks even helped Osborne go on a humanitarian trip to Albania — the first time he’d ever left the country or even the state. Osborne couldn’t afford the trip, so Wilks covered it, despite the teenager’s protest. Wilks wrote him a letter, saying, “you are deserving of this experience and you are worth this price.”
Osborne had troubles at home and often didn’t hang around with the right crowd, but he had a heart for service and wanted to make his life better, his family and friends said.
In the summer of 2024, teenagers whom Osborne spent time with were trashing and lighting fireworks on a hillside called “Sunset” on Bald Hill Road near Kyle Scharpf’s home in the unincorporated area outside Yelm, Scharpf said.
When the 36-year-old pushed back on them, the kids started harassing him, and Osborne sent him some threatening messages, said Scharpf, who posted them to his neighborhood Facebook group. Osborne later told a Yelm newspaper that it wasn't him who sent the messages.
“He was fighting with a good heart, even though it was crazy talk,” Scharpf said, going on to say that he was “a good kid in the wrong area.”
Amanda asked Scharpf to take the messages down, so he said he would if Osborne helped him pick up some trash. Agreeing, Osborne came out with a smile and a good attitude, and the two got to chatting. By the end of the day, Osborne said he wanted to do it again, Scharpf recalled. Osborne liked doing the work and thought maybe he could get a job from it down the line.
Over that summer, Osborne and Scharpf cleared 5 miles of the road, filling 15 or more trailers with trash including couches, rugs, refrigerators and more.
Now, Scharpf is helping Amanda put in a bench on Bald Hill Road to memorialize Osborne alongside a cross with a QR code leading to a website where people can share about their time with him.
Osborne wanted to start a clothing brand campaign to make the takeover scene safer, Amanda said. He put the phrase "Save Th3 Scene" on shirts he and his friends wore to the takeovers and wanted drivers to put stickers with the phrase on their cars.
Osborne’s mother now wants the campaign to be used in his memory. The shootings have also prompted Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson to draft a gun violence reduction plan, including a suite of proposals like more police bike patrols and stepping up violence prevention measures targeting young people.
“Seattle needs to do better. The mayor needs to do better because we're losing our babies,” Amanda said. “Mothers shouldn't be burying their children.”
© 2026 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
