TACOMA, Wash. — A man accused of shooting and killing a man who was allegedly involved with his girlfriend turned himself in to Tacoma police two years after the homicide.
On July 15, 2024, Tacoma police responded to a road rage homicide near E 28th and E 29th Streets, near Emerald Queen Casino.
According to court docs, 24-year-old Chaston Philes tracked his girlfriend’s location to a bar in Tacoma, where she was with the 33-year-old victim.
Philes’ girlfriend told investigators that she saw Philes waiting outside the bar, and told the man she was with to drive off to avoid an argument, court docs said.
The pair drove off and Philes followed them, court documents said. He then aggressively tried to drive them off the road, docs said.
Both men got out of their vehicles and confronted each other, docs said.
Philes said that the victim started punching him and hit him in the head with a gun. Detectives confirmed that he had injuries consistent with those events, docs said.
Philes pulled out his own gun and shot the other man, court documents allege.
“I drew on him and I shot him, ‘cause I thought he was gonna kill me,” he told investigators, per court documents.
The 33-year-old man died from his injuries.
According to court documents and a Facebook post from Tacoma PD, the suspect stayed on scene and was cooperative with detectives during the investigation.
On July 13, 2026, suspect turned himself in “at the request of detectives.”
KIRO 7 has reached out to Tacoma PD to ask why the man was out for two years, and why they wanted him to turn himself in now.
Philes was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and reckless driving.