In the early evening of May 11th, a group of young people were hanging out in a parking lot police in the 9200 block of South Hosmer Street. 17-year-old Jatarius Tolbert was on his way to get his girlfriend a Slushee. His friends called him Trey. A Dodge Charger drove by Trey and the group. It was known that Trey was having problems with someone who drove a similar car. A young man in the group pulled out a revolver and fired shots at the car. One of those shots hit Trey in the back. Police arrived soon after the shots. Medics were unable to save Trey and he became the fifth Tacoma homicide of 2015.
This is the second homicide in that area in less than a week though there is no indication that the two murders are connected in any way. A few weeks after Trey’s death another 17-year-old was arrested for his murder.
As always, the comments section is reserved for friends and family of Trey. Please feel free to share your thoughts and memories of him. No comments of hate or anger will be accepted. All comments are moderated and approved by me before they are posted.
Jack Cameron
tacomastories.com 
Thank you for the article but my son was not shot in the head and we have the coroners report though I have been able to get 4 tape recorded conversations from the suspects they are not admissible though they clearly talk about events my baby murdered but the tapes are considered hear say and the other party was not notified they were being taped they say he was not the intended recipient of the bullet I am sure this week this case will be solved
Apologies for the mistake. I’ve updated the article to reflect the correct information. I’m sorry for your loss.
Trey is my little brother by marriage. I.met him for the first time about 13 years ago. He was always smiling and loved playing with his 2 brothers, Jasiah and Amancio. They were the.youngest three and probably the closest! They moved about 7 years ago and we haven’t seen him since. I know he had a full life ahead of him and he didnt deserve to leave this world on the pavement of a parking lot. Miles or time apart can not break a bond and we loved Trey. Continue to keep his family, especially his mom and brothers in your thoughts and prayers, because as days go on for everyone else, the memories of Trey will never leave them! Shouting we love you guys, YOUR TN FAM!!
I love you trey and I’m so sorry you life had to end so soon don’t worry momma granny and chenai are waiting for you in heaven and we’ll all be together one day in paradise really soon rest in peace nephew you won’t be forgotten love you your uncle jojo
Please let me know if I am reading this right. Trey said he was having problems with someone in a charger, someone in his group fires on the charger but also hits Trey killing him? Was anyone in the charger hit? Was it even the same charger?
This is the second time I have had to correct yo ur article trey did not point out anything please be careful what you print last week you said my baby was shot in the head leave us alone !!!!!you are making our pain worse by unjustified lies the next time you do this you will be addressed legally get the truth the whole story and hanging out? He went to the store to get his girlfriend a slushy see time lines
Please contact us in the future for the real story trey was not hanging out he went to get a icee for his girl(see time line) and he didn’t point out anything there was no time these article witb mistakes hurt us this is the 2nd one
Sharon, allow me to personally apologize. I’ve updated the post to reflect what happened. I get my information from various media sources, outside sources, and court documents. Sometimes they get things wrong and I end up repeating them. If I get something wrong, it’s never on purpose. Again, I apologize for any pain this has caused you. It’s certainly not my intent. I am sorry for you and your family’s loss.
Thank you I am very sensitive right now when this happened a friend of treys that was considered a sister stayedbup for 3 days straight knocking on doors and taping statements we had the two suspects immediately these killings are pointless and they are life changers but my sons life will not be in vain I am going to start a foundation in his name to help others in the future but no he wasn’t hanging out just trying to make it home
Sharon, when you get ready to work on that foundation, I advise you to contact Shalisa Hayes. Her son, Billy Ray Shirley III was killed in Tacoma four years ago. She created a similar foundation in honor of her son. You can find contact information on her site: http://www.billyray.org/
And again, let me apologize for the incorrect information I previously had on this post.