AUBURN, Wash — A beloved brother and son was shot and killed outside his Auburn home Wednesday, just one hour before he turned 18, while his birthday cake awaited him inside. Now, those who loved Noah Bagby are mourning a loss they say is tremendous.
"Parents should never have to bury their kids," said Mizanna Journee, his sister.
The homicide is yet another act of gun violence impacting teens this summer, and now Auburn Police Department's detectives are hard at work trying to nail down a suspect.
"If you know who did it, you need to go to the police," said Journee.
On July 3, Bagby and Journee were coming home from watching fireworks when an argument began, according to police.
"Two people walked up to him and asked him some questions, and then they shot him. I watched my brother drop to the ground," Journee said.
Journee said she went into shock.
"It was definitely teenagers," said Journee. "It was definitely teenagers."
All the while, Bagby's mother was inside the home and heard the shots.
"She thought that someone had set off fireworks in front of her, like, apartment. And then she realized, like, it was back to back to back... and those weren't fireworks. And she came out. She got to hold Noah until like he took his last breath," said Journee.
No others were injured, according to police. The medical examiner said his cause of death was "multiple gunshot wounds" and labeled the manner as a homicide.
"Never in my life would I have ever thought 17 years was all I was gonna get with my brother," said Journee.
Journee said, "Noah had a lot of dreams that he wanted to accomplish... He wanted to go, ya know, go to technical college, go into the HVAC industry. He wanted to have kids, ya know, have a girlfriend, get married."
Journee said her brother was loved by his teachers and was a positive influence for his peers. She described him as "very impactful for the kids in the community."
"He always told the kids, you know, like, 'Stay out of trouble,' 'if you know where trouble is, stay far from away from it.' You know? 'Go to school,'" said Journee.
She said he was very positive and would light up any room. Only two weeks prior, Bagby had graduated from Auburn Mountainview High School.
"He always just had the biggest smile on his face," she said.
He was also an avid fisherman on Washington's lakes.
"Noah loved fishing," said Journee. "Like, he wanted to take me on his raft. He wanted to get a bigger boat when he got older and go fish on the ocean and stuff."
She said her family is devastated and that she will never be able to celebrate the Fourth of July, Bagby's birthday, in the same way again.
"It's hard to kind of go through the day and wake up without my brother being here to Facetime in the morning, and just call him after I got off of work and like, tell him about my day, ya know, all my accomplishments, I would ya know... he'd be the first person to know, I would call him he would get excited for me. I can't do that anymore," said Journee.
In light of her and her family's loss, Journee said she believes Washington laws need to come with harsher consequences for juveniles who commit violent crimes.
"I know a lot of people know that there's certain things they're getting away with," she said. "And if they're younger, you know, they won't be as tough on them as if they were an adult. I just don't feel like that's fair.”
Anyone with information that could be useful for investigators is urged to contact the Auburn Police Department.
Meanwhile, a verified GoFundMe has been set up in Bagby's name for those interested in helping his family cover the costs for his memorial service, flowers, casket, headstone and burial plot.