Man Killed In Sodo Shooting Remembered As Tireless Dad

SEATTLE, WA — You could count on Clemente "Harry" Morales III to chaperone a school field trip or bring snacks during a school activity. He was dedicated to his five kids like that. So dedicated that he and his wife rarely got a date night.

"He was a good man, and a loving husband, father, and a hard worker," Clemente's wife, Jennifer Rodom, remembered recently. "He took care of his family."

Just after midnight on June 30, Morales, 34, was shot and killed outside the Showbox Sodo venue after attending a Nipsey Hussle concert. Seattle police reported that the shooting happened in a large crowd that had gathered outside the venue. One other person was shot and wounded.

Rodom was at home in West Seattle when she found out about her husband's death. They had a small spat over his going to the concert that night, and Rodom's last exchange with Morales was over Snapchat when he sent pictures of the concert.

"My last words were, 'you're going with these people, watch your back,' " Rodom recalled. "I didn't think something like this was going to happen."

Morales went to the concert with two men Rodom believes are quick to start trouble. Morales was arrested in March in connection to a shooting at the Minda Lanes bowling alley in Yakima. He was with the same two people he attended the concert with.

Morales was not a troublemaker, Rodom said. She doesn't believe he was aggressor in whatever happened in the moments leading up to his death on Saturday.

"He's not that type, he's not a fighter. He'll try and talk to you. He'll give you fair warning. He'll try and resolve the situation before fighting," Rodom said.

Originally from Yakima, he and Rodom moved to West Seattle about eight years ago. They came to Seattle to escape the gangs and trouble Morales was experiencing in Yakima. When he got to Seattle, he found work in a warehouse, and later as an electrician at construction sites across Puget Sound. He focused almost exclusively on work and his kids, Rodom said.

When the couple did get a chance for a date night, they often went to their favorite restaurant in Seattle, Japonessa. Morales loved the Seahawks and the Mariners, and so they went to those games too.

Rodom is now alone in Seattle with her kids, and she's still in shock about Morales' death. She only has memories now: Morales' favorite chicken wing flavor (lemon pepper); how he used to razz Rodom and the kids about their smelly feet; and how the couple never held a formal wedding because they were saving up money for a daughter's upcoming quinceañera.

One other memory remains. Whenever Rodom was feeling down, Morales was the one person she could count on to cheer her up — the kind of support she could use right now.

"He was my best friend," she said.

Images courtesy Jennifer Rodom