TACOMA, Wash. — Two 17-year-old male suspects were arrested Thursday for their alleged involvement in the shooting and killing a 14-year-old girl in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood.
The suspects were each booked on a charge of first-degree murder.
One suspect was taken into custody around 4 p.m. The second turned himself in to Remann Hall around 6:45 p.m.
According to the Tacoma Police Department, a group of juveniles was inside a car in the area of South 19th Street and MLK Jr Way Wednesday when someone shot at them. Police said a 14-year-old girl, identified as Iyana Ussery, who was inside the vehicle was struck by the gunfire.
Police said the victims drove the car to the 1900 block of South Ainsworth and called for medical help. Responding officers gave Iyana life-saving measures, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting continues.
Meanwhile, a peace walk was held Thursday evening in Hilltop, where more than 100 people mourned the teen and expressed their frustration. Alongside community members, Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore, Mayor Victoria Woodards, state Sen. T'wina Nobles, and Rep. Derek Kilmer were in attendance.
"Are we failing our young people as adults and leaders in our community?" asked Brendan Nelson with Peace Lutheran Church.
Nelson was mentoring a group of young people when the car full of juveniles pulled up.
"To see that, we had been talking about trauma and how we can be grateful and thankful for things when there's so much chaos in the world, and then we come back to a life lost, here in our neighborhood," Nelson said.
Now Nelson has to begin the work of trying to make sense of a tragedy that hit so close to home.
"For them to actually see it, to know that there's a young person laying on the ground just steps away from them, is really difficult," Nelson said.
Terrance Turner of Tacoma Cease Fire, which organized the peace walk, is calling on everyone in the community to stand against the violence. His hopes were that young people would attend the event.
"It's a shared community, so it's a shared responsibility and they have an integral role that they do play and they can start by showing up today and say we're tired of little kids getting killed and nothing happening," he said. "It doesn't matter how many marches we do, nothing's bringing that child back, period, so what can we do different from this event is really where it's at."
Representatives for Iyana's family spoke on their behalf. They described her as a "peacemaker" and "always trying to pull the family together."
One of Iyana's friends, who said they were there when the shooting occurred, said, "Before Iyana passed away, the last thing she did was smile at me."
Iyana's death marks the 25th homicide in Tacoma so far in 2022.
Police Chief Avery Moore put out a statement on the shooting, saying in part, that "the murder of a child rips at the very foundation of our community, and no child should fear their community, nor should any parent have to bury a child."
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