PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — As investigators in Pierce County are trying to figure out who shot Leon Baucham and dumped him in the weeds off a rural road, his family says comments on stories about the slaying on the Internet have been devastating.
LaVonne Brown said the comments that her son must have been a “meth head” or a “gang banger” who must have had it coming are not only hurtful, but untrue.
“He loved his family, he lived for his children and he lived for his family. He had a good job,” said Brown.
Brown said she never thought she'd face heartache like she has felt after learning that Baucham’s body was found shot in the stomach and dumped near Wauna outside Gig Harbor.
Brown says now, she feels like she must defend her son’s character.
“Whoever did this dumped my son in a muddy ditch like he was nobody -- like he was nothing, like his life didn't matter. He had a full life, he had an absolutely full life with people that loved him, a family that loved him,” said Brown.
Pierce County detectives worked the scene Thursday night after a couple walking their dogs saw Baucham’s body thrown in a ditch off the side of the of 82nd Avenue Northwest. Investigators needed machetes to get through the thick grass at the scene.
Brown showed KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Monique Ming Laven one of her favorite pictures of her son walking his kids to school.
Brown said Baucham was a loving family man, not someone looking for trouble.
“It’s like that doesn't translate into who my son was. Never, ever was he something that you could just dispose of so easily like that,” said Brown.
Brown said she has no idea who would want her son dead.
Anyone with information about the slaying is asked to call the Pierce County Sheriff's Department
KIRO
