‘A systematic failure': She was killed outside a Tacoma shop as a clerk's mental health spiraled

Yahoo

18-03-2025

The estate of a woman killed outside a convenience store in downtown Tacoma has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that claims law enforcement, a mental health provider and the business negligently enabled the alleged assailant — a store clerk who long struggled with severe mental illness.
Odessa Easterlin, 37, was fatally stabbed outside Candy Market, located at 767 Market St., on April 30, 2022. The suspect, 55-year-old Abdelhakim Choubabi, was charged with first-degree murder but the case was later dismissed after a judge found him mentally incompetent to stand trial.
The lawsuit, filed March 6 in Pierce County Superior Court, laid out a series of alleged failures that it said led to Easterlin's murder as it accused Tacoma police, mental health provider Telecare Corporation, a Telecare employee and Candy Market of negligence.
'Ms. Easterlin's death could absolutely have been prevented,' attorney Brett Beetham, who's representing Easterlin's estate, said in an interview Monday.
Telecare, which had treated Choubabi shortly before Easterlin's death, extended sympathies to Easterlin's family and loved ones but said it could not comment on an ongoing legal matter.
'However, we can reiterate our mission to deliver excellent and effective behavioral health services that engage individuals with complex needs in recovering their health, hopes, and dreams,' Telecare spokesperson Daphne Phillips said. 'Our staff and teams remain focused on respectfully serving our clients — people who suffer from complex and challenging mental health issues — in the Tacoma community.'
The city of Tacoma declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing its practice of not publicly addressing pending litigation. Messages left for Candy Market, using contact information available in public records, were not returned.
Choubabi was accused of stabbing Easterlin in the stomach with a large Samurai-type sword as she sat outside on the ground. He had claimed that Easterlin shoplifted and then hit him in the back of the head after he followed her outside, prompting him to return inside the store for the sword, charging documents show.
Beetham said store footage from the day of the killing refuted Choubabi's statements, revealing that Easterlin didn't shoplift and had no sort of interaction with the clerk.
Choubabi was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia as early as 2004 and had been treated several times over the years for the illness, including after allegedly stabbing his pregnant wife and two others in 2003, according to the lawsuit.
He began working at Candy Market around 2017, the suit said. It claimed that store ownership was aware of Choubabi's mental health problems and should not have allowed him to work unsupervised nor kept a sword behind the cashier's counter.
At the time of Easterlin's killing, Choubabi's mental health was in rapid decline, culminating in three roughly week-long commitments at three mental health clinics in April 2022 to treat auditory and visual hallucinations, the suit said. He reported hearing commands from Satan to hurt people, according to the suit.
Ten days before Easterlin was killed, and after Choubabi was reportedly discharged from a second clinic despite persisting psychiatric problems, Choubabi called 911 from work to report that he was going to hurt himself or someone else, according to the lawsuit. He walked up South 9th Street with a knife in his hand and Tacoma police took him to a local hospital where he was transferred to Telecare North Sound E&T in Sedro-Woolley, the suit said.
Telecare North Sound E&T discharged Choubabi after six days, although he complained of hearing voices and his medication not working, the suit said. The clinic referred him to his primary care provider for an appointment scheduled for the following week, according to the suit.
Easterlin would be dead in three days.
Back again at work, Choubabi called 911 once more — this time just three hours before the fatal stabbing. He requested Easterlin, who was apparently homeless and also suffering from mental health problems, be moved from the front of the store. A responding officer watched Easterlin walking away, documented observing mental health issues and cleared the call without getting out of his patrol vehicle, according to the suit and Beetham.
'Tacoma PD needs to do a lot better than just a drive-by,' Beetham said.
The officer should have investigated, consistent with department policies that prescribe intervening in such situations, since Easterlin had been exhibiting signs of mental distress, including talking to herself, not wearing pants and urinating in public, according to the suit.
If the policy had been followed, the suit said, Easterlin could have been removed from the scene and it would have been discovered that Choubabi was detained with a dangerous weapon only 10 days earlier.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages and legal fees. More than anything, Beetham said Easterlin's family wants justice and protection for others in Easterlin's situation.
'It's just a systematic failure,' he said, singling out Tacoma police and Telecare. 'We want to hold them accountable to make sure … this does not happen to anyone else, especially our community's most vulnerable.'