11th Tacoma Homicide of 2024: Brichaun "Butter" Pringle
Brichaun Pringle’s friends called him ‘Butter’. With a magnetic personality, an easy smile, and a determined will, I can see why. Brichaun had a habit of doing the right thing and helping out when he could. He had empathy, even for strangers. His presence in the life of his partner and his three-year-old daughter was one of warmth.
Brichaun was no stranger to violence or tragedy though. A couple years earlier his older brother met with a violent death.
So it’s probably no surprise to anyone who knew 23-year-old Brichaun Pringle that on the early summer night of June 18, 2024 in 3200 block of East F, a spot known as the Overlook, at 11:38pm he was trying to break up a fight.
He’d arrived minutes earlier with three others. Two other car loads of individuals were also there. The groups talked. When things began to get violent between one of Brichaun’s friends and another individual, Brichaun stepped up to deescalate the situation. But a 19-year-old from the other group had grabbed a rifle from a car and began firing.
Brichaun was hit once in the chest. As the gunman continued to fire, people scattered. First responders arrived, but Brichaun had already died from his wound. Brichaun is the 11th Tacoma homicide of 2024.
The 19-year-old responsible for his murder was arrested soon after the shooting and charged with his murder.
At 23-year-old, Brichaun was just beginning to show the world who he was. We’ll never know who he could have became. That’s been stolen from us as surely as his three-year-old daughter has lost a father.
If you knew Butter and want to share thoughts or memories of him, please comment below.*
HI, Jack. My name's John Draper. I'm a writer in Tacoma. I write at Once a Boy. We're trying to launch a new newsletter and were having some trouble with imagery. Could we buy you a latte at Starbucks and have you show us what to do on our laptop?