5th Tacoma Homicide of 2024: Virgil Ray Stebbins
If you’re into the local midget racing scene I don’t need to tell you who 64-year-old Ray Stebbins was. There were few things that Virgil Ray Stebbins loved more than racing those little cars. Ray was a gearhead. He owned A to B Auto Inc. Seeing photos of him in those cars, he’s always smiling. That’s impressive. He had more than his fair share of tragedy. In 2014 one of his two daughters died in an accident. Eight years later he lost his wife to cancer. His last surviving family member, his daughter Tabitha, meant the world to him.
She said this about her father to a local television station shortly after his death, “My dad was one of my absolute best friends and one of the few people I could really trust to tell it to me straight when I needed it. No one on this planet is as kind, caring, fun loving and happy to be living life as him. I will forever be so blessed from the things he taught me,”
Ray also played guitar and sang in his band 0’Dark:30.
Sometime before six in the morning Ray was in his vehicle in front of his place of business in the 1100 block of Center Street when a 39-year-old man with a dog approached his driver’s side door. There are a few flashes seen in surveillance video and the dog runs off. These are believed to be the gunshots that ended Ray’s life. He is the fifth Tacoma homicide of 2024.
The dog, frightened by the gunshots ran into a nearby street and was hit by a vehicle. The dog was injured and taken to the Tacoma Humane Society where police were able to arrest the man who shot Ray when he arrived to pick up his dog. He has been charged with Ray’s murder.
Whenever someone is taken from a family suddenly, it creates unexpected needs. This is why I encourage folks to donate to GoFundMe campaigns that are still open long after the event. Every donation helps. I know that from personal experience. Click here to donate to Ray’s Go Fund Me.
I did not know Ray. I cannot tell you any thoughts or memories of him, but his loved ones can. That’s why I encourage those of you who knew Ray and want to share anything about him to use the comment section to do so.
- Jack