LJ Causey Jr. came home after a gunfight with a chipped tooth and bloodied face, hours before his girlfriend, Lacey Alexander, saw about 20 Pierce County sheriff's deputies point their guns at Causey's truck while he slept inside the vehicle.
Alexander said Causey, 32, and a friend had gone to a neighbor's home two blocks away to ask them not to speed on their street, where the couple's 11-, 12- and 13-year-old children frequently play. The confrontation turned into a fight that led to a 911 call.
Early Monday morning, deputies approached Causey's truck, which was parked in his driveway. Moments later, three deputies, who have since been put on leave per sheriff's office policy, shot and killed him.
The office has not yet released more information — including the identity of the three deputies — or body camera footage detailing the encounter with Causey. Pierce County's independent Force Investigation Team is investigating, as it does anytime an officer uses lethal force.
Alexander said she's reeling from the trauma of seeing Causey killed in front of her, while they made eye contact. She said she screamed at the deputies to allow her to open the truck first. When reached by phone the next morning, her voice was hoarse and nearly gone. She said she hadn’t slept.
“It replays in my head over and over and over,” Alexander said. “I don’t want to be in my house, but I have to. I feel hopeless.”
Causey's fight with the neighbors
The neighbors racing outside Causey's home to annoy a police officer who lives nearby has been a frequent issue, Alexander said. The neighbors declined to speak with The Seattle Times.
When Causey returned home after the fight, he had a bloodied face from being hit in the mouth with a gun, Alexander said.
Causey told her a fight had broken out and shots were fired. Alexander said she was told one of the neighbors shot at Causey, leaving a bullet hole in the pocket of his jacket. But Alexander said she didn’t know more about what happened during the fight.
Artemio Mendez, who said he lives next door to the neighbors who were in a fight with Causey, said he heard someone shout, “if someone hits me again, on my mom, someone’s going to get killed.” That’s when he heard gunshots and called 911.
The sheriff's office said Monday there was a “prior incident in which deputies had established probable cause to arrest the driver” of the truck Causey was eventually shot and killed in. But the office did not specify which incident it was referring to.
Mendez’s Ring camera footage shows the same black truck, with what looks like a blue motorcycle in the back, that Causey was shot in going back and forth in front of the neighbors’ home about five times between about 11:50 p.m. Sunday and 2:05 a.m. Monday, blaring music.
It seemed like Causey was “looking for blood,” Mendez said.
Deputies arrive at Causey's home
After the fight, Alexander said Causey and his friend left to go to the corner store.
Causey then realized he forgot his phone. When he came back to the house to retrieve it, “he gave me a kiss on my forehead, told me he loved me, and he went to his mom's,” Alexander said.
When Causey returned from his mother’s house, after he had been drinking, he decided to sleep in the truck so as not to wake up his children inside, Alexander said, which he typically does when coming home late. Causey's friend went inside.
Within an hour, Alexander awoke to bright police lights peeking out behind her blackout curtains and the sounds of voices outside. She opened the window and curtains to see Causey 3 feet away, asleep in the driver’s side of the truck while it was running with music playing, as about 20 officers surrounded the truck pointing their guns, she said.
The sheriff's office said in a statement Monday that its deputies responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle in the area around 2 a.m. and spoke with neighbors who had called 911. The office said its deputies first called out to Causey from behind his truck where they had positioned their vehicles in a “high risk stop.”
Alexander screamed at the officers to tell them Causey was sleeping. That’s when Causey opened his eyes. He picked his head up, and that’s when police opened fire, Alexander said. She never saw Causey pull a gun and didn’t know if he had one on him.
“LJ opened his eyes and looked at me, and they just shot him and his eyes never closed again,” Alexander said.
Alexander said Causey never had a chance to speak or surrender.
Blocks away, Ashley Moreno had woken up around 2:30 a.m., uneasy after she’d heard about Causey’s fight on their street from Mendez’s girlfriend. At about 2:45 a.m., she said she heard about five gunshots ring out.
The Pierce County medical examiner identified Causey and ruled his death a homicide resulting from multiple gunshot wounds.
Alexander said police may have judged Causey based on his criminal record, which includes driving while intoxicated, driving with license suspended, assault in the fourth degree, theft and obstructing a police officer. His latest charge was assault in the fourth degree in 2023.
“I’ve known him since I was in second grade, I've loved him my whole life, he’s my best friend and life partner,” Alexander said. “ He was a very kind person.
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