24th Tacoma Homicide: Jadell Williams
At twenty-three years old, there was a lot of life that Jadell Williams never got to experience. But she was a mother. Her son was two years old when he waved goodbye to his mother for the last time as they took her coffin away.
Jadell knew she was in danger before she died. Over the summer she’d gotten involved in a relationship with a volatile man with a long criminal history. She filed domestic violence reports against him to the police. She carried a small gun in her pocket. It’s clear that she feared for her life.
On the morning of October 28, 2023 video footage shows Jadell walking past a gas station on Pearl Street carrying a large black duffel bag at 5:12am. She is followed closely by the man later identified as the 30-year-old she had been involved with. At 5:28am, the man returns, passing the gas station and carrying the duffel bag.
At 7:30am, police arrived to an area in the 3900 block of North Pearl Street where they found Jadell dead with a gunshot wound to her neck. Jadell Williams is the twenty-fourth Tacoma homicide of 2023 and the second domestic violence homicide of 2023.
Police quickly tracked down the man who killed her. A search of his home turned up the duffel bag with Jadell’s identification inside. He was arrested and charged with her murder. He is now serving a 39-year-sentence.
None of that gives a two-year-old kid his mother back.
I did not know Jadell. I cannot tell the stories her friends and family can tell about her. That is why the comment section is reserved for those individuals who want to share thoughts or memories of their loved one.
- Jack Cameron