7th Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Joshua Farrell
In February of 2022 Joshua Farrell was living at the Econo Lodge in the 8800 block of South Hosmer. He was said to have dealt methamphetamine and fentanyl out of the motel room. In the early morning hours of February 7th, two men pulled up in a maroon 1995 Lexus 300 ES. They went into his room. Neighbors heard gunshots. The two men promptly left the motel room. Witnesses saw them get into their vehicle and leave. Moments later a female friend of Joshua’s saw him stumble out of his motel room with a badly bleeding wound on his shoulder. She drove him to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries becoming the seventh Tacoma homicide of 2022.
A few days later, one of the two men was identified as a 22-year-old who had been bragging about robbing and killing Joshua Farrell. Cops confronted him. He took off in a car, running into a few parked cars and leading the police on a chase that ended in Lakewood on South Tacoma Way where police shot and wounded him. He later pled guilty to first degree manslaughter by claimed his unidentified accomplice pulled the trigger. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
This is the second Tacoma homicide on this block in 2022 and would end up being one of five. Hosmer is easily the most dangerous street in Tacoma which makes it one of the most dangerous streets in the state.
It is easy for some to simply see the murder of Joshua Farrell as something that is likely to happen if you’re dealing drugs out of a motel on Hosmer. In a way, they aren’t wrong. But the way I see it, everyone makes choices, some of those choices are good, some not so good. And sometimes the choice you make is deadly. That said, those choices do not negate a human life. Joshua Farrell had loved ones who cared about him. His sister remembers him on his birthday. His family notices the empty seat where Joshua would be. Joshua has a young son who will never get to know his father.
It cannot be that we only care about murder victims who meet some sort of personal standard. We’re all more than our worst days or even worse years.
If you knew Joshua and want to share thoughts or memories of him, please used the comment section below or email me at jackcameronis@gmail.com
- Jack Cameron
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