A day and a half after the deadly shooting in the 9200 block of 16th SW, no updates from police, but we know more about the man who died:
(Photo republished with permission)
We know more about 40-year-old Stephen Jeffries, Jr., thanks to a friend’s effort to make sure the shooting doesn’t go unsolved. Mr. Jeffries is survived by four daughters (three of whom are with him in the photo above). He was a 20-year employee of Seattle Public Utilities. His longtime friend Mike Wheeler set up a Facebook page to publicize the search for tips and has also started a crowdfunding campaign for reward money.
Mike says of his friend, “He was a homeowner, one-time business owner, and good friend to so many people in the Seattle area as he was born and raised here. … Stevie was loved by so many people of different race, religion, and status that many people are in serious pain right now. I started the Facebook page because I, like so many others, are in serious pain because of his loss.”
Mike notes that Mr. Jeffries is the second son his mother has lost to deadly violence in West Seattle. 12 years ago this month, he was with his 18-year-old brother William Jeffries at a party in the 1400 block of SW Cloverdale. A fight broke out; when it was over, William was dead, shot three times. Prosecutors didn’t file charges against William’s admitted killer, who said it was self-defense. Their mother, West Seattle resident Michelle Jeffries, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit and ultimately lost; the case history shows that while she represented herself for the first few years of the proceedings, by the time it went to trial in 2006, she had retained lawyer Bruce Harrell, now a city councilmember.
(Photo from early Wednesday by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Police have said only that Tuesday night’s shooting happened during a “disturbance” at what they referred to as a New Year’s Eve “social event” at the residence of the other person who was shot, a 33-year-old woman who suffered a hand wound. We covered it starting moments after the first dispatch, originally sent to just an intersection address, 15th/Barton, but that eventually changed to the 9200 block of SW Barton … which is the same block in which Mr. Jeffries’ brother lived when he was killed in 2002, according to a document in the aforementioned lawsuit. Police have not released any description of the shooter. But if you have any tips, the Seattle Police Homicide Tipline is the place to call – even if anonymously – 206-233-5000.
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