Kevin Young was 41 when he was shot and killed in a Tacoma motel in late summer 2014. On August 20, he and his girlfriend were at the King Oscar Motel on South Hosmer Street when they were visited by a woman the girlfriend had met while incarcerated. After that woman left, two men carrying a shotgun burst into the room demanding money. Young was shot in the stomach; his girlfriend called 911 just before 6 a.m. and he died at a local hospital that afternoon.

Investigators described the incident as a planned robbery aimed at taking Young’s drugs and money. Four people were charged: Raphael Smith, Marcus Boykin, Aron Skaro, and Brandi Rye. Smith was identified as the gunman and was arrested in Portland; he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 250 months in prison. Boykin and Rye also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and Skaro was identified as the getaway driver. Young’s family described him as a beloved son and father who once worked as a fisherman in Alaska.