SEATTLE — Natasha Brincefield was born with a giving heart.
When she was in middle school, Natasha used her weekly allowance to buy lunch for a friend who couldn’t afford it, her mother, Kathina Brincefield, said.
“She was selfless and always showed people she cared about them,” Brincefield said. “As she got older that passion grew with her.”
Last winter, Natasha carried extra hand warmers and food wherever she went to give to people experiencing homelessness,, Brincefield said. When a friend was going through a tough time, Natasha bought them a spiritually protective beaded bracelet.
Natasha, 22, was one of four people who were killed in a mass shooting Oct. 21 in Tacoma’s Salishan neighborhood. Also killed were Maria Nunez, 42; and her son, Emery Iese, 19; and Nunez’s brother, Raymond Williams, 22, Natasha’s longtime boyfriend.
Pierce County prosecutors have charged Maleke Dominque Pate, 22, with four counts of aggravated first-degree murder on Nov. 1 in connection with the shooting. Police say multiple surveillance cameras show Pate arriving and later leaving the scene of the shootings wearing clothing later found in his home, according to charging documents.
Police said the motive for the shooting remains unknown. The only connection between Pate and the victims is that he attended fifth grade with one of them, according to charging documents.
Investigators say the victims were not associated with gangs or drugs. Pate has been ordered to undergo a competency evaluation later this month, the (Tacoma News Tribune) reported.
‘Happy-go-lucky kid’
Every time Kathina Brincefield closes her eyes all she sees is her oldest daughter growing up.
Natasha had a deep love for the ocean and sealife, Brincefield said. She enjoyed sitting and watching the fish during trips to aquariums. When she was around 8 years old, Natasha was awed by watching scuba divers feed sharks during a school trip to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, telling her mother she wanted to try it, too.
“I just remember that big smile on her face, and she just lit up,” she said, recalling how Natasha was such a “happy-go-lucky kid” who easily made friends. People gravitated toward Natasha, and they adored her because she was generous, Brincefield said.
Natasha had many plans, like going to school for a business degree, finally going scuba diving and getting a place with Raymond Williams. The two had been dating for five years, and Natasha was planning her whole life with him, she added.
“And then it was all gone,” Kathina Brincefield said.
Bruce Massingale, Natasha’s step-grandfather who met Natasha’s grandmother in 1982, remembers the toddler taking tumbles when she was learning how to walk. But one day, Natasha immediately got back on her feet with a massive grin on her face like she knew she had accomplished something great by getting up herself.
“It’s affected me pretty hard having her be there and then not be there so suddenly,” he said.
Love and faith
“We are hoping that the justice system will do its part,” said Lauvale Iese, whose wife, Maria Nunez, and son, Emery Iese, were killed. “It doesn’t make sense to us. Naturally, on the spiritual level, we understand, but just the way that they left is really hard to comprehend.”
Lauvale Iese’s family lived what he would call an ordinary life full of love and faith.
He tenderly recalls watching his wife enthusiastically helping the youngest of their seven children as he learned to count and recite his ABCs. She lit up being around family and making sure everyone had good food to eat, Iese said.
“She was great at whatever they needed her to be: a doctor, a taxi driver, a friend,” he recalls.
Iese, who is a minister at the Tacoma Indian Baptist Church, spent half his life alongside Maria. .
She enjoyed the simple things in life, he said, savoring the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves.
“She was always so kind to every living being,” said Iese said, who recalled how Maria didn’t let him kill spiders in the home and instead asked him to capture them and then release them outside.
Maria never let anger get the best of her and was forgiving, sometimes maybe too forgiving, Iese said.
“She couldn’t stand when people were unfair to others or were abusive with their words or actions toward children,” he said. “When it came time to address those things she was like a bear.”
Iese says he is glad he told Emery how proud he was of him before his death, he said.
“He was everything I wanted him to be in a son,” Lauvale said.
Emery was full of dreams, having just graduated from Chief Leschi High School in Puyallup. During his free time from work at Krispy Kreme, Emery was training to become a professional boxer, Iese said. He had a coach and had purchased gear, even setting up a punching bag in the backyard.
“If he was going to do something he did it, and he’s was going to learn how to do it and be good at it,” his father said, “and he was really good.”
Emery was very protective of his siblings and his mother, Iese said, and absolutely loved his younger brother. Every month, Emery ordered a treasure box of small pirate trinkets off Amazon, which he would bury in the backyard for his younger brother to find.
Raymond Williams was the same way, Lauvale said. He always made time for his nephews and nieces, whether it was taking them to the waterfront, go-karting or to the movies.
“He was always there for family … and just trying to keep them out of trouble,” he said.
Raymond doted on his mother, caring for her as she faced a number of health problems, relatives told the News Tribune.
Massingale has set up a GoFundMe page for Raymond and Natasha’s funeral expenses. A memorial service open to the public will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Puyallup Tribal Youth Center, 5803 N. Levee Road E. in Tacoma.
