41st Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Peter O'Brien
Peter O’Brien met the love of his life while playing video games thousands of miles away from Tacoma, Washington. Her name was Jewel. They met online in 2018. In early 2020, after a couple of failed attempts, Peter was able to see her in person. They didn’t have much. A couple of cats. A young love. She called him, “Koala.”
The pandemic began, making things difficult. But like the rest of us, they got through it. In July 2021 Peter got a job and stuck with it. He never called in and was always happy to pick up an extra shift. Things were looking up.
In late November of 2022, Peter had just closed down his work and was walking on the sidewalk when he was approached by multiple men who beat him about the face and chest for reasons unknown. He kept asking them, “Why are you doing this?”
When he returned home, Jewel was shocked by his appearance. His eyes were red. His mouth could barely open. A visit to the Emergency Room would reveal his foot was broken. They splinted it and over the next few days had to re-splint it. The ER doctor recommended a specialist, but there was no way they could afford that, especially with Peter unable to work with a broken foot. Luckily, they had a family friend who was a podiatrist and made an appointment with the doctor for December 2, 2022.
On Thursday, December 1, 2022 Jewel was helping him in the bath when she noticed he was very sweaty. This was uncharacteristic of Peter. He told her he felt tightness in his chest. They considered calling an ambulance, but Peter was afraid it would cost too much.
The next morning they attended the podiatrist appointment where a friend’s Peter’s foot was put in a cast. Peter’s chest was still hurting, but with a cough he’d developed, he thought it might just be the flu.
The evening of December 2nd, Jewel went to sleep quickly. It’d been a long day. She woke up to Peter groaning in pain. He was vomiting and had diarrhea. He was also sweating and cold to the touch. Initially he did not want paramedics called, but his partner insisted. First responders found that his blood pressure was low and his vitals weak, but steady. They thought perhaps he was having a panic attack.
They told him to focus on his breathing. He drank water and tried to relax. Peter spent the next few days dealing with a bad cough and trying to breathe through his pain. He believed he was simply having panic attacks because that’s not unexpected in the wake of a violent attack.
On December 6, 2022, Peter got up to go smoke a cigarette and immediately did not feel right. He groaned and told his partner, “It’s happening again.” He thought it was another panic attack.
Jewel got off the phone and rushed to Peter in the bathroom. He was sweating profusely. She reassured him telling him it was going to be okay. He agreed. “I just need to work on my breathing,” he said.
Jewel went to get her laptop so they could find other methods for helping panic attacks, but before she could return to the bathroom, Peter groaned loudly again. She returned to the bathroom to find Peter on the floor making gurgling noises.
“Koala!” she yelled. Then dialed 9-1-1.
The 9-1-1 operator instructed Jewel on doing chest compressions. Once paramedics arrived, they tried for 45 minutes to revive him, but were unsuccessful.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner would determine that Peter’s cause of death was, “Acute pulmonary thromboemboli due to deep vein thrombosis due to fractures of the left cuboid and 5th metatarsal bones due to blunt force injury.”
Peter was beaten to death. It just took a few days for him to die from his injuries. Peter is the 41st Tacoma homicide of 2022. He was 31 years old.
His partner has set up a GoFundMe campaign to handle expenses. It remains active. You can donate to it and directly help someone who has lost the person that meant the most in her life.
As always, the comment section if reserved for those who knew Peter and want to share thoughts or memories of him.
- Jack Cameron
TacomaStories is free for everyone. Every Monday we post about a Tacoma homicide, focusing on the victim. (The perpetrators get enough exposure from the media.)
Subscribe for free now or if you’re able, please consider supporting the work we do here at TacomaStories by becoming a paid subscriber. Just click the link below to subscribe.
Authorities KNOW who beat Peter. It was one person, a co-worker.