Lakewood Murder Victim Identified; Suspected Shooter Charged

LAKEWOOD, WA — One person was arrested and charged in connection with a shooting in Lakewood Sunday that left one man dead and another injured. The Pierce County Medical Examiner's office on Monday confirmed the identity of the deceased as 52-year-old Christopher Allen.

Jovan Antwann Wade, 38, has been charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder. He is being held at Pierce County jail following his arraignment Monday.

The shooting incident occurred around 9:45 a.m. at a trailer located in the 6900-block of 146th Street Southwest, across the street from Heritage Park apartments, according to court documents obtained by Patch.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the owner of the trailer told police he sometimes allows people to stay over, and on Sunday had allowed Allen and another man (not the suspect) to be there.

Wade was reportedly at the home in the company of the homeowner's daughter and another man, though detectives said they're unsure at this time why Wade was there at all — and why he remained in the trailer after the homeowner's daughter and her other friend left prior to the shooting.

The homeowner's daughter has not been located since the shooting, police said.

The homeowner was reportedly outside working on a vehicle with Allen while the second victim was inside the trailer when the shooting started.

The shooting victim who survived was wounded by one 9mm bullet to his chest, documents show. Speaking with police after surgery, the victim provided investigators with a slightly different version of what happened compared to what the homeowner described.

According to both the victim and the homeowner, however, gunfire originating from a back bedroom belonging to the homeowner's daughter initially drew the attention of everyone at the trailer.

Police said it looks like Wade was firing bullets at random through the bedroom window.

The victim said he went to the bedroom and met Wade at the bedroom door. Upon seeing the victim, Wade reportedly opened fire. After he was shot once, the victim fled the bedroom and met the homeowner on the front porch of the trailer.

According to the homeowner, Allen went inside to investigate right after the victim came out. More gunfire was heard, but Allen never returned, the homeowner said.

The homeowner and a neighbor then entered the trailer and found Allen dead. When the homeowner checked the back bedroom, Wade reportedly opened fire again, sending several bullets through the door, narrowly missing the homeowner, who immediately fled back outside.

While the homeowner was inside the trailer, the victim outside reportedly made his way to an apartment across the street.

After police arrived, officers contacted Wade but he refused to leave the trailer, instead opting to initiate a 90-minute standoff before eventually surrendering.

Altogether, police said Wade fired 18 9mm rounds, eight of which went through the door and the exterior wall of the trailer. After locating an empty magazine in the room and an empty magazine in Wade's handgun, investigators determined Wade must have reloaded after emptying the first clip.

An apparent resident of Tacoma, Wade has no record of previous criminal history in Pierce County, according to a search of the Pierce County legal database.

According to the victim, he'd met Wade once before and had no known issues with him; further investigation by Patch show the pair are connected on Facebook.

After his arrest, Wade reportedly told police "he wasn't going down for murder," adding that the shooting was in self-defense.

A hearing is currently set for July 18, with a jury trial scheduled to begin Aug. 8.