TACOMA, Wash. — Police said they arrested a homicide suspect Saturday connected to the death of a woman found dead along a Tacoma street in March.
Officers were called on March 27 just before 10:45 a.m. for Yinairy Median Castro, 38, who was unresponsive along the 3000 block of Tacoma Avenue. Emergency crews tried life-saving measures for Castro, but she was pronounced dead by the Tacoma Fire Department. Her death was ruled a homicide, as police worked to find the suspect accused in the shooting.
Detectives said they found the 61-year-old suspect, Randy Douglas Brown, in the north end of Tacoma on Saturday and arrested him at about 5 p.m. Police said Brown was booked into the Pierce County Jail for first-degree homicide. Brown's bail was set at $1.5 million for the homicide charge.
According to court documents, witnesses said the shooting happened in or near a "community tent" in a Tacoma homeless encampment.
A witness told police Castro was living in the homeless encampment, according to the court documents. Another witness said she heard a woman arguing with a man near the bridge when other witnesses reported hearing one gunshot followed by two more.
The argument began, court documents reveal, when Castro allegedly told a witness' boyfriend that Brown was touching her. Witnesses said the boyfriend confronted Brown, who "got mad" and shot the 38-year-old woman.
According to court documents, the victim admitted to a witness that she hit Brown with a machete before the homicide.
Court documents reveal that a witness believed Brown may have been high on fentanyl and meth at the time of the shooting.
Police said the homicide suspect had a criminal history in Arizona, Florida and Connecticut prior to the March homicide.