Black balloons flew over Lacey on Thursday in remembrance of Deven and Alexander Borgen, who now have a permanent memorial at the street corner where they met their untimely ends.
“This memorial sign provides a place for reflection,” said Lacey Deputy Mayor Malcolm Miller.
He joined fellow Lacey city officials, representatives from the nonprofit Orion Watch: Community Outreach Programs and the Borgen brothers’ family and friends for a sign unveiling ceremony on Thursday, June 18.
Deven and Alexander Borgen, ages 17 and 16, respectively, were gunned down in a drive-by shooting at the corner of 24th Avenue Southeast and College Street Southeast in Lacey in the early morning of Nov. 14, 2025.
They both died at the scene.
“On behalf of the city of Lacey, I want to express our sympathy to the Borgen family and to all those who continue to carry this loss in their hearts,” Miller said Thursday. “We recognize that grief does not follow a timeline, and we hope this memorial offers a measure of comfort, measured remembrance, and some sort of peace.”
Since the brothers’ deaths in November, Deven and Alexander’s grandparents have been working on getting memorials set up in their honor.
The Thurston County-based nonprofit Orion Watch, an organization focused on providing resources and funding to “justice-impacted individuals” in the region, paid for the Lacey sign.
The nonprofit has additional funding available for a second sign in Rainier, where Deven Borgen lived with his grandparents and was set to graduate high school this year.
“It takes a whole community effort to make this happen. In a tragic event like this, we all need to come together and stop this behavior from happening in our community,” said JD Barton of Orion Watch.
To the young people in attendance Thursday, Miller emphasized the importance of solving problems with words rather than violence.
“This kind of thing does not need to happen, and we, as a city, are really sad that it happened here, because there is no amount of disagreement that can't be solved with a good conversation,” Miller said. “As a community, we're sorry for your loss. This is tragic. We hope to never, ever, have to revisit something like this again.”
Two suspects, Trequanne Trenelle Wilson-Mason, 20, and Jaden Hawk Johns, 20, have been arrested and charged for the brothers’ murders.
Wilson-Mason allegedly told police that he mistook Alexander for another person who shot his dog and at his house in October 2024. He is accused of opening fire with a modified automatic handgun, letting off 27 rounds and killing both brothers.
Johns is accused of driving the SUV from which Wilson-Mason allegedly shot the Borgen brothers.
Both Johns and Wilson-Mason face first-degree murder charges, in addition to other lesser charges.
Both have pleaded not-guilty to their respective charges and are being held without bail at the Thurston County Jail.
Trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 19, 2027.
