7th Tacoma Homicide of 2021: Mariela Vargas-Brown

It was a nice night on April 6, 2021. On that early spring evening 29-year-old Mariela Vargas-Brown was doing what a lot of people in Tacoma do. She was driving her car on the waterfront road of Ruston Way at around 10:30pm when someone shot at her car hitting her. Her car crashed into a pole. She crawled out of her car and died on the scene becoming the seventh Tacoma homicide this year.

It’s eight months later and this homicide has yet to be solved and the full circumstances of the crime remain unknown. CrimeStoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to her killer’s capture and conviction. Callers can remain anonymous. Read more about that here.

Mari was a phlebotomist. Her job was drawing blood from children. She loved working with children and genuinely enjoyed life. People close to her say that the only thing that makes sense is that she was hit by a stray bullet as she did not have any enemies that they are aware of.

Any time someone is murdered, it impacts those who knew the victim, but it is especially difficult to deal with the grief when the circumstances of their death remain a mystery. Murders like this are often solved by someone who knows something finally giving authorities the piece of information they need to find the person responsible.

As always, the comments section is moderated and reserved for those who knew Mari and want to share thoughts or memories of her.

• Jack Cameron