SEATTLE — The young man who was fatally shot Wednesday in Pioneer Square was known by friends and family for his big, warm smile, positive energy and dapper good looks.
No arrests have been made.
Dees’ mother died when he was 13, said Lena Walker, of Minneapolis, who was an adoptive sister of the young man. He was a good student and an accomplished athlete growing up in Minneapolis, she said.
After deciding not to go to college, he moved to Seattle to look for work and to try to get to know an older sister he had never known, she said.
Dees’ fiancée, Samara “MayMay” Dees, 25, who said she took Dees’ name because they planned to marry on her birthday — one day after he was killed — believes the motive for the shooting will turn out to be petty.
“Everybody liked him,” she said. “They loved his smile, his ambition and his positive energy. He was open-minded and wanted to learn, and he was never mean or confrontational.”
Samara Dees said she and Dees had recently moved to a home in Burien but that they visited the Pioneer Square area frequently because they loved the neighborhood and because Dees thought he would be able to find a labor-ready type of job there.
On Wednesday, several people who identified themselves as friends of Dees’ said he was, indeed, a nice, respectful young man who always took the time and care to be clean and well-dressed. But they also said he had, at times, been without stable housing and that he had recently begun to smoke crack cocaine.
He was shot near a small park called Fortson Square, which is known as a gathering place for crack users, according to the supervisor of a nearby shelter.
Dees’ fiancee, however, said he did not use hard drugs and that she did not think drugs played a role in his death.
