Family members of murder victim, 32-year-old Ngaire Tusi, were in court Friday to face the man accused of killing her.
The court requested $2 million dollars in bail for suspect 32-year-old Muhammad Salanoa. He was arrested Wednesday after about six weeks on the run.
Tusi is a mother to seven kids. When she was shot and killed in December , her murder shook the South Sound.
“My regret is I wasn’t there to protect her, to stop this from happening,” said Louie Lese, a family member of the victim who was in court on Friday. “I hope justice comes down hard on him,” he said.
Court documents are also revealing new details about a possible motive. They say Tusi was helping investigators track down the suspect in a Tacoma rape case.
The complicated chain of events started on Nov. 18 when a woman was raped near the Tacoma mall. Police say the suspect was 22-year-old James Salanoa – the nephew of the murder suspect, Muhammed Salanoa.
About 10 days later, investigators tracked Salanoa down, and deputies ended up shooting and killing him in South Hill.