Today, Rainier Beach High School seniors will collect their diplomas and celebrate the culmination of their high school careers.
Among them should be 18-year-old Tyjon Malik Stewart and 17-year-old Tra'Veiah Houfmuse, two Rainier Beach students whose lives were cut short when they were killed at a bus stop after school on Friday, January 30, 2026. Instead of crossing the stage alongside their classmates, their absence will be felt by everyone who loved them.
Though their deaths have been heavily covered in news reports, the stories on their deaths do not capture who they were nor reflect what was truly lost.
The teens were friends and athletes. They were positive forces in their schools. The loss of Tra’Veiah is an unimaginable loss for his twin Daveiah. Tyjon’s uncle reflected on him being his mother’s reason for living.
The facts of their deaths are cold and stark. The truths of their lives are warmer and far more deserving of the public’s attention.
Educator Ebbony Brannon began teaching at Rainier Beach around the same time the boys began their freshman year. As both a teacher and trusted adult, she got to know them both personally. The loss has deeply affected her.
She remembers Tyjon as someone who had a quiet, soft spoken nature, who could open up and become incredibly engaging, especially when discussing subjects he was passionate about, like basketball and the outdoors. Like so many others, she remembers Tyjon‘s ever-present smile, which created a sense of positive calmness wherever he went.
Tra’Veiah, she says, was “outgoing with a strong and memorable presence. He was always joking and making people laugh, but he also made it a point to speak to everyone, regardless of who they were.”
Although teenagers are often different around their peers than they are around their teachers, Rainier Beach senior and football player Tek Mwamba had much of the same assessment of who they were at their core.
“They were polar opposites, in the best possible way,” Tek said.
Tek recalled meeting Tra’Veiah and his brother Daveiah in the fourth grade, when the twins moved to Seattle from the Tri-Cities area. They quickly went from friends, to teammates on the basketball court, to something more like family.
“Tra’Veiah, even if he didn't know you, he'd still hug you,” Tek said. “He said hi to everybody. He didn't leave without putting a smile on your face. He was the biggest extrovert. He was kind of the face of the school. He truly represented the kindness Beach wanted to show to the public.”
Tek, the twins, and their circle of friends looked out for one another, from walking to school together and making sure everyone got home safe to nurturing each other’s dreams.
“He was always supportive of my football goals and aspirations,” Tek said of Tra’Veiah. “When you reach a high level of competition, doubt is gonna creep in. And it felt almost like whenever I would have that internal doubt in my head, without me saying anything, he'd say, ‘You know, I love you! You're gonna be great. And I need some tickets to your first game.'”
Like Brannon, Tek also fondly remembered Tyjon being peaceful, reserved, and cordial with everyone.
“The people that he was close with, he was really close with,” Tek remembered. “He never said more than what he felt was necessary. But the people who he cared about, he made sure they knew, mainly through action.”
Tyjon’s close friend Makayla Eastland saw these actions firsthand. She remembered a time when Tyjon showed up at her house at 7 A.M just to be the first to say Happy Birthday.
“You have a way of bringing light wherever you go,” Makayla wrote, in a letter to Tyjon, after he passed. “Your happiness is contagious, your sense of humor can make anyone smile. Being around you always feels a little brighter because of the joy, laughter, and kindness you share with everyone.”
In a Facebook post, Tyjon’s uncle Troy Taylor remembered the potential of the nephew who he called a gem and a joy to be around. He said Tyjon stayed out of the streets, focused on basketball and school, and was a good son to his mother.
“You made me proud, man,” Taylor wrote in the post. “I was ready to see you cross the stage and now it’s never gonna happen.”
Sebrena Burr, an elder and anti-violence community advocate, is a longtime friend of Tra’Veiah’s family.
“The plan was for him to be walking across that stage,” said Burr, who was among the first on the scene after the shooting. “He was going to enter a trade, like his uncle.”
Tra’Veiah was enrolled in Rainier Beach's Skills Center, a Seattle Public Schools program that prepares students for college and careers. He had an interest in construction.
“He showed a lot of emotional devotion to helping end homelessness,” Tek shared. “That was always his biggest motivator for everything, and he seemed to be on a path to building homes.”
When speaking to those who knew them, a common theme emerges: both teens are remembered as a light. That becomes clear in the stories people shared, and the extinguishing of that light has been felt far and wide.
Burr recalled attending Tra’Veiah’s funeral and seeing more kids than she’s ever seen at a funeral before, with students coming from as far as Lake Sammamish.
Since their passing, the Rainier Beach High School community, led in large part by students, has participated in multiple events to honor the beloved teens, including special tributes at assemblies and the reopening of the bus stop where their lives ended. The stop now bears two placards: In loving memory of Tra’veiah Houfmouse and Tyjon Stewart.
Today, as Makayla, Tek and their classmates walk across the stage to accept their diplomas, Tyjon and Tra’Veiah’s diplomas will be given to members of their families.
Tek says the responsibility now falls on those who knew and loved them to carry forward the love and belief they poured into others.
“They had dreams and goals not only for themselves but for all of us to be great. And because they're not here, and we need to value their legacies, we have no choice but to be great.”
Gennette Cordova is an award-winning writer and communications strategist focused on advancing racial equity and community-driven change. Rooted in amplifying underrepresented voices, she seeks to challenge dominant narratives and connect issues to broader movements for justice.
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