On January 2, 2022, 33-year-old Gloria Goeun Choi was run off the road and shot to death near the 6100 block of 112th Street West in Lakewood, Washington. Officers found her inside a crashed Ford Ranger pushed against a telephone pole; she was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center and later died. An autopsy recorded ten gunshot wounds. The 911 dispatcher heard Choi report she was being followed by an armed ex-boyfriend, then frantic screaming and a sequence of gunshots.

Investigators identified the accused as her 46-year-old ex-boyfriend William Lee Rickman. Choi and Rickman had broken up two months earlier, and in the month before the killing she reported harassment and stalking to law enforcement in Pierce, Thurston, and Lewis counties and obtained a no-contact order. Days before the shooting, Rickman allegedly followed her, broke into her truck, slashed a tire, and stole belongings.

Rickman fled the state after the murder and was later arrested in Humboldt County, California, then extradited to Pierce County and charged with aggravated first-degree murder. Choi’s estate has since filed a lawsuit against the city of Lakewood and the police department alleging failures to protect her despite her reports.

If anyone knew Gloria, her movements that night, or has information about the harassment she reported, please share what is known.