6th Tacoma Homicide of 2023: Jefferson Matthews
In the late morning hours of February 28, 2023 twenty-six-year-old Jefferson Matthews was in a tent in a homeless encampment near South Tacoma Way and Pacific Avenue with his girlfriend and his dog, Tyson. Just after 11am, a 36-year-old man who Jefferson and his girlfriend had had run ins with before entered the tent. Jefferson’s dog barked at the man. The man pulled out a .22 pistol and shot the dog. Jefferson stood up saying, “You just shot my f*cking dog!” at which point the man shot him once.
First responders arrived, but Jefferson died on the scene. His dog, Tyson was taken to a vet where the dog died as well. The 36-year-old shooter was identified by witnesses and found at a nearby RV where the gun was recovered as well. He has been charged with the killings of both Jefferson and his dog.
This is the second shooting at a homeless encampment in as many days.
This brutal and senseless killing is an example of the dangers homeless individuals face on a daily basis due to lack of social safety nets to deal with the mentally ill and unhoused people.
I wasn’t able to find an online presence of Jefferson. This is common for people without homes. When you’re busy simply surviving, one doesn’t spend much time worrying about social media updates.
I can’t tell you much about Jefferson. I can tell you that there are those who love and miss him. I can tell you from long experience that for some their lives will never be the same due to this loss. And I can tell you that Tacoma is lessened by the absence of everyone who is taken from us.
If you are a friend or relative of Jefferson Matthews and want to share thoughts, memories of him, please comment below or email me at jackcameronis@gmail.com with his name in the subject line.
- Jack Cameron
UPDATE: Jeff’s mother wrote in and provided photos and said the following:
“He was loved. He was loving,,genrous to a fault. He helped others when he had very little. He had helped the man who shot him . Brandon Archuletta needed to get some parts for an suv and fix it so it could be moved. The city was towing abandoned cars. He met Jeff and Jeff helped him 8 months before he was murdered under different circumstances.
“Thank you for posting about my sons murder. We are still trying to make sense of it. Brandon Archuletta has not been convicted or sentenced yet.”
I am his girlfriend & let me tell you jeff was an amazing man who was taken far to soon, he didn't deserve this & i along with so many others miss him every single day..