33rd Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Papaloa Sauileone
The last thing 42-year-old Papaloa Sauileone purchased was a coffee from a gas station on East 72nd Street in the early morning hours of September 5, 2022. He walked about a block and crossed East I Street. Then a green Chevy Malibu pulled up to him. Papaloa leaned into the car. Words were exchanged and the man inside the car shot Papaloa once in the head and once in the groin. Papaloa ran, but then collapsed a short distance away. The Malibu drove away. Firefighters found Paploa in the street a
short time later, but he died from his wounds becoming the 33rd Tacoma homicide of 2022.
A truck driver not far from the murder claimed a man in the green Malibu offered to sell him fentanyl shortly after the shooting. Days later, police would track down the green Malibu in Spanaway and arrested the man responsible for Papaloa’s homicide.
Papaloa Sauileone was a big man with a big heart and a big family. He leaves behind a wife and six young children. He liked to play guitar and was all too happy to serenade his family members. It’s impossible to look at his memorial video on YouTube and not see the love he had for his family and they clearly had for him.
This was the third Tacoma homicide in the first five days of September. 2022 was a record year for Tacoma homicides. And though our homicide rate fell last year, it remains unacceptably high.
As always, the comments section is reserved for those who knew Papaloa Sauileone and want to share thoughts or memories of him.
- Jack Cameron
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