Man charged with murder after allegedly shooting, killing Tacoma ex-girlfriend, police say

A suspect has been charged with murder after he’s been accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend in Tacoma, police said.

Aiden Tyrrell, 18, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and illegally possessing a handgun in the shooting death of 17-year-old Delayah Sims.

Tyrrell appeared in court Wednesday afternoon to learn more about his fate as he sat a few feet away from the victim’s family.

“Mr. Tyrrell threatened to kill the victim. Went to that location, fired at least one shot and he came back two days later, lured her out of her apartment and shot her to death,” a prosecutor told the judge.

Tacoma police said the shooting happened at the Midtown 15 Apartments on 15th Street Saturday night.

The victim, Delayah Sims, was rushed to Tacoma General by her family where she later died.

A makeshift memorial was left behind near where the shooting had killed Sims.

COURT DOCUMENTS:

KIRO 7 News looked through court documents, which outlined more details about the case.

Detectives said they searched through Sims’ text messages and saw that she and the suspect, Tyrrell, had been arguing since Sunday, March 17.

Tyrrell sent threatening messages to Sims, investigators said, saying he would kill her.

The suspect also accused Sims of cheating on him, officials added.

The arguments continued on Thursday, March 21, where the suspect demanded Sims to come outside of her home, detectives wrote.

He claimed he had her belongings, including her gun, that he wanted to return, the court documents wrote.

Tyrrell continued to send threats to her, including threats to post their sex videos, detectives said.

He also sent her three photos of her apartment to Sims, police said.

Moments later, a neighbor’s window was shot.

A resident told KIRO 7 News that the bullet missed a family member by a few feet.

When detectives arrived to the scene, Sims told an officer that she believed her ex-boyfriend was responsible for the gunshot, adding he had abused her physically in the past and shot her previous apartment in Parkland.

Sims did not report the shooting to police, the court documents wrote.

On Saturday, police said Tyrrell arrived at Sims’ home.

Sims was on the phone with her sister, detectives wrote, as she walked outside to get her belongings from Tyrrell.

“I’m going to go get the rest of my stuff, but stay on the phone with me,” the sister told police what her sister had told her.

The sister said she heard a car door open and her sister scream twice, but she did not hear a gunshot due to the screams, officials said.

NEIGHBORS:

KIRO 7 News spoke with neighbors Wednesday afternoon.

One person, who did not want to be identified, said she heard Sims scream last Saturday night.

“I was there. I had heard her screaming,” she said. “My heart goes out to the family, but I feel like it’s a deeper issue of generational trauma and a cycle of violence throughout our community that needs to get fixed before we can fix anything.”

Another woman, Hattie Crisp, who owns a home across the street, said, “I think it’s ridiculous for him to shoot that child.”

We asked Crisp if the suspect’s court hearing is a step towards justice for the community.

“No, because he had no business shooting that girl or anybody else,” she responded. “I was glad my son wasn’t here.”

Loved ones created a GoFundMe to help the family during this difficult time.

“On the night of March 23rd, Our precious angel was brutally murdered in cold blood. Just 19 days after celebrating her 17th birthday she was Taken away from her family and friends forever. A senseless, selfish, act of violence leaves our family broken. We are asking for your support in laying our sister to rest. Please keep sharing her link,” the GoFundMe wrote.

If you’d like to help, please click here.

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