Hate crime leaves 20 year old Fort Lewis soldier dead

Fort Lewis soldier fatally stabbed on Lakewood street
Associated Press
By Mike Baker
October 5, 2013

SEATTLE -- A soldier out with his friends was fatally stabbed alongside a Lakewood street early Saturday, and investigators were examining whether the attack was a racially motivated hate crime.

The 20-year-old was walking with two of his friends from Joint Base Lewis-McChord when a car drove by and someone inside shouted a racial comment toward the white soldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said. The soldiers shouted something back, and a group of five black men from the car stopped and surrounded the soldiers, authorities said.

Police said the men in the car began to leave when one of them realized the soldiers were combat veterans, but one of the suspects appeared to bump into the victim as he walked past. As the car left, the soldier fell to the ground, and his friends discovered he had been stabbed.

The soldier died at the scene. Authorities declined to release his name until family members could be notified.
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UPDATE

3 soldiers arrested in fellow soldier's stabbing death
CNN
By Chuck Johnston and Jason Hanna
updated 4:13 PM EDT, Mon October 7, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
It now appears the stabbing was not racially motivated, police say
The suspects, like the victim, were soldiers assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Friends say they were on the way to celebrate Tevin Geike's pending discharge
Witnesses initially said Geike was attacked after an assailant yelled about soldiers being white

(CNN) -- Three soldiers have been arrested in connection with the stabbing death of a fellow soldier who was celebrating his pending departure from the Army -- an attack that police in Washington state now say doesn't appear to be racially motivated.

Jeremiah Hill, 23; Cedarium Johnson, 21; and Ajoni Runnion-Bareford, 21, were arrested on charges of murder in the death Saturday of Army Spc. Tevin Geike, police said Monday.

All four were assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, not far from the Lakewood sidewalk where police say Geike was accosted as he walked with two friends and fellow soldiers early Saturday.

Police initially said they were investigating the death as a possible hate crime after witnesses said a black assailant directed a racial comment toward Geike, who was white, and his white friends shortly before the stabbings.
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UPDATE

Slain soldier’s friend: no reason for killing

A soldier who was present when another soldier was fatally stabbed in Lakewood on Saturday said he doesn’t know why his friend was attacked: “It’s a pity someone had to stoop that low.”

By Jack Broom
Seattle Times staff reporter
October 7, 2013

A soldier who was present when another soldier was fatally stabbed in Lakewood Saturday said he doesn’t know why his friend was attacked — and said there can be no good reason.

“I pity them for whatever forced them to want to kill someone for nothing,” Spc. Brian Johnson said Monday, “It’s a pity someone had to stoop that low.”

The three men jailed in the case, and the victim, Spc. Tevin Geike, 20, of Summerville, S.C, are all soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, according to Lakewood police.

The suspects are expected to make initial appearances in Pierce County Superior Court on Tuesday.
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