On the last night of her life, 42-year-old Soohui Kim went to a casino with her friend. It was September 21, 2021. They left in the early morning hours of September 22nd. Her friend fell asleep. Soohui had some ‘clear’ she wanted to sell. ‘Clear’ is slang for a kind of methamphetamine. She knew someone who wanted to buy it but he wasn’t someone she’d ever sold to before. She exchanged a few text messages with the man before agreeing to meet in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 4500 block of South Puget Sound Avenue.
Around 4:30am, a few minutes before Soohui and her friend arrived in her SUV, the man she was texting with pulled up in a Honda and met with two other men. Those men waited for Soohui to pull up. Soohui’s friend woke up when they pulled into the parking lot. Moments later, the two men approached the vehicle from behind and fired 5-6 shots into the vehicle. Soohui immediately pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. Her friend had been grazed by a bullet. Soohui had been shot twice and crashed into a telephone pole on South 47th and Pine. Her friend ran to a nearby convenience store and called 9-1-1, but Soohui Kim was dead by the time first responders arrived becoming the twenty-first homicide of 2021.
With the help of witnesses, video surveillance, and cellphone data, police were able to identify, arrest, and charge the three men responsible for Soohui Kim’s murder.
I wasn’t able to find much about Soohui Kim’s life, friends, or family, but I know that she was more than someone who sold drugs. It’s all too easy for some to dismiss people involved in criminal activity as nothing more than criminals, but all of us are more than the worst things we’ve done. Soohui Kim had friends and family who will never hear her laugh again. They have a hole in their lives that will never be repaired. It is a loss they will simply get used to with time.
As always the comment section is reserved for those who knew Soohui Kim and would like to share thoughts or memories of her.
-Jack Cameron
TacomaStories is always free. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at this link. Thank you.
On the morning of September 6, 2021 a 49-year-old man with severe mental illness entered a gym in the 9700 block of Pacific Avenue. He asked about a membership and then attacked the clerk before leaving. Shortly after that altercation, about a block away he encountered 40-year-old Rikki Lynn Millerup, a homeless woman who stayed in a tent near there. He cut her throat then stabbed her ten more times. The man then stole her wallet and debit card from her backpack. A friend of Rikki’s saw her in her tent that morning but assumed she was passed out until he saw her in the same position hours later and called authorities. She was dead when first responders arrived becoming the twentieth Tacoma homicide of 2021.
Rikki’s killer was found hiding in bushes shortly after.
I was unable to find much information about Rikki Lynn Millerup. This is fairly common when the victim is homeless. People say she was a nice person. In situations like this I’m forced to rely on thoughts and memories of people who knew the victim to fill in what isn’t available. This is why the comment section is moderated and reserved for those who knew Rikki and want to share the stories of the person they’ve lost.
– Jack Cameron
TacomaStories is always free. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at this link. Thank you.
It was around midnight on August 26th, 2021 when 30-year-old Job Anthony William Irving and a friend arrived at the Shell gas station on South 15th and Sprague. Shortly afterwards both Job and his friend were both shot. His friend survived his wounds, but Job died on the scene and became Tacoma’s 19th homicide of 2021.
Job spent most of his life in Sacramento, California where his family moved when he was a child. Shortly after graduating high school he joined the Army Reserves. In January of 2020 he reenlisted becoming an active duty soldier and training as a nurse. His training complete, he was statins at Joint Base Lewis McChord in March of 2021. Only five months later he lost his life.
Job had a great sense of humor, an infectious laugh and was known for his big bear hugs. He clearly wanted to serve his country and help people. He lived a life that mattered. He is missed.
As always the comment section is moderated and reserved for those who knew Job and want to share thoughts or memories of him.
– Jack Cameron
TacomaStories is always free. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at this link. Thank you.
Hello and welcome again to Five Question Friday. Each Friday we find someone doing something interesting in Tacoma and ask them five questions.
Today’s guest was technically my boss for the past couple of years. I worked as one of her editors at Creative Colloquy. When I decided to bring back Five Question Friday, Jackie was the first person I contacted. She’s not just a founder of Creative Colloquy, but also a good friend and an all around awesome person. And Creative Colloquy is one of my favorite things about Tacoma.
Creative Colloquy is a local literary group that has monthly readings every third Monday of the month. They also maintain a website and regularly publish paperback anthologies, the latest of which, volume 9, is coming out later this year.
Here’s Jackie:
1. How did Creative Colloquy deal with the pandemic?
We were initially hesitant but really leaned into virtual gatherings. The world shut down on the day that would have been our 6 year anniversary celebration. We chose to continue connecting via zoom because it felt as though, especially in the beginning days that people were hungry for connection. During the days of quarantine a break in seclusion was welcome. After a time we introduced workshops to our programming to amplify our offerings and curate opportunities to hone our craft and connect with like minded creatives in a time that many of us weren’t working and may have been afforded the luxury of time to spend with the written word since the world had shut down.We witnessed some valuable connections take place – even if the zoom applause was silent.
2. What’s the best part about doing in-person readings again?
The collective stillness in the air, a shared chuckle, an in person round of applause, those things are unmatched and cannot be replicated with virtual events.
3. Besides the website and monthly readings, what else is Creative Colloquy up to?
We’re in the midst of editing and accepting accompanying visual art pieces for our 9th print anthology due to launch this year. We’re also hosting regular writers workshops throughout the year for writers of all genres and experience levels AND hosting a semi regular writer’s social hours called Pens n’ Pies. The idea is to connect as writers and tour local pizza joints. We talk all things writing, life, publishing and more. In October we plan to gather for the Creative Colloquy Crawl, in person, proper crawl like for the first time in 2019. Like past years you can expect community collaborator curated readings, poetry, short stories, music, live art – a true choose your own adventure literary journey. And of course this summer we will be making our rounds with the CC Book Bike Pop Ups at local parks to distribute free books to the masses. This February we’ll be distributing another round of found art with our CC Message in a Bottle series. This time we were inspired by Tacoma Monkeyshines and used the Year of the Water Rabbit as a call for submissions prompt with stories centering around themes of peace, hope and longevity.
4. How can people help support Creative Colloquy?
CC is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike and functions as a non profit so tax deductible donations can be made from our website. We also have a Patreon page with fun membership perks. All funds help us keep events accessible, almost always free to the public, plus general admin fees, website hosting, publishing costs, etc. AND of course spreading the word! We are always accepting poetry, short stories, essays and novel excerpts for online publication which results in an invite to appear as a feature reader. Showing up to support our fellow writerly friends and neighbors is the very best support. Writing is a solitary action, making space for community and connection nourishes us in so many ways.
5. What’s next for Creative Colloquy?
We have some fun things in the works – aside from what we have on the calendar we are really looking forward to expanding our programming to showcase local writer’s more and more. From now to 2024 things we’re building towards include more gatherings centering around a dialogue, a podcast and a summer lit fest we’ve been day dreaming about for ages. We’re always exploring ways to support local storytellers so who knows how things will evolve.
Thank you to Jackie Fender (Casella) for participating in Five Question Friday. You can find Jackie on Twitter @jacksfender and Creative Colloquy is at https://creativecolloquy.com.
If you think you or someone you know might make a good participant for Five Question Friday let me know at jackcameronis@gmail.com. – Jack Cameron
TacomaStories is always free. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at this link. Thank you.
I can tell you that Dalvon Eugene Edwards-Shinhoster loved basketball. He played it on the weekends and whenever he could get a chance. He was 39 years old. He graduated from Foss High School, class of 2000. He was the sort of guy who was always willing to take the time to help out those in need. He was a father, a brother, an uncle, and a good friend.
What I can’t tell you is what happened to Dalvon on the morning of August 16, 2021. He was found unresponsive in an apartment parking lot in the TK block of TK at around 9:00am. First responders were called, but he was dead on the scene. His death has been ruled a homicide, but as of this writing over nine months later, police have not released Dalvon’s cause of death, any known circumstances leading up to his death, or any description of a suspect. I cannot tell you how Dalvon became the 18th Tacoma homicide of 2021. I can just tell you that he is missed by those who knew him.
As always the comment section is moderated and reserved for those who knew Dalvon and want to share thoughts or memories of him.
-Jack Cameron
TacomaStories is always free. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate at this link. Thank you.
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