“I will always fight for my baby”: Mother of young woman killed in Seattle shooting demands accountability one year later

SEATTLE – This month marks one year since four people were shot in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood during the weekend of the 2023 Capitol Hill Block Party.

Essence Greene-Madden, 20, was killed by a ricochet bullet in that shooting. Almost a year later, no one has been held accountable for her death.

“It’s been 12 months now and there have been no developments to hold anyone accountable for what happened that night,” said Tina Madden, Essence’s mother.

It happened just hours after the Capitol Hill Block Party that Essence, of Federal Way in Seattle, attended. An illegal street race broke out in the neighborhood and Essence was hit by a ricochet bullet.

“This month marks the anniversary of my daughter’s death by gun violence,” Madden said.

A year later, Madden is still demanding that something be done and someone be held accountable.

The Seattle Police Department’s Homicide Unit said it has arrested one person in connection with the shooting and charged him with illegal possession of a firearm, but it is still looking for more evidence and investigating to find and arrest the person who pulled the trigger of the gun and killed Essence.

“To me, her life is meaningless if no one is held accountable,” Madden said. “And it didn’t mean enough to me to find out who really did this to her.”

She said she believes the people who were there can help prove the perpetrator and is asking them to come forward with any information. She is also asking Seattle police to proceed diligently and remain focused on finding and arresting her daughter’s killer.

“I let the system do what it does,” Madden said. “It just hurts because it takes so long, you know? So you’re always carrying that around with you, when is something going to be done?”

She pushes for accountability because every day without closure is another day without justice for Essence.

“Until the day I get justice, I will always fight for my baby,” Madden said. “I will always fight for her.”