1st Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Jeremy Tomlinson
Jeremy Tomlinson January 6
Author’s Note: I made a mistake last week. I accidentally covered a homicide that did not take place within the city of Tacoma. As I’ve told many people who’ve asked, I only cover Tacoma homicides because if I start also covering the surrounding areas, I’m not sure where I’d stop. This is TacomaStories and so we write about things in Tacoma.
In the first days of 2022, 30-year-old Jeremy Tomlinson was in an RV in a homeless encampment under Interstate 705. He was not alone. Another man who he had known since Middle School was in there with him. They had been rivals, occasionally dating the same women. Both had criminal records. Whatever was said between the two men is unknown, but the man shot Jeremy Tomlinson with a .380 pistol. He then took Jeremy’s body and wrapped it in a tarp nearby. The man then lit the RV on fire. It was two more days, on January 6th, before Jeremy’s body was found. Jeremy Tomlinson is the first Tacoma homicide of 2022.
Investigators eventually found the man who shot Jeremy and arrested him. He’s been charged with second degree murder.
Jeremy’s nickname was Doughboy. He was an outgoing sort. He could always make his children laugh. He also struggled a lot, like a lot of people do. It’s all too easy to separate ourselves from homicides like this and pretend that circumstances could never change in our lives to the point where we’re in an RV at a homeless encampment, but none of us know what the future holds.
What we can say for certain is that there is a hole in the lives of those who knew Jeremy and that hole will not be filled. It’s something they’ll get used to after a time.
As always the comment section is reserved for people who knew Jeremy and want to share thoughts or memories of him.
- Jack Cameron