Fatal disputes about cellphones, woman lead to long sentence for Pierce County man

One fatal shooting was during an argument about cellphones. The other was about a woman. Their only connection was Thomas Sterling Potts.

On Friday, he was sentenced for both killings.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Shelly Speir gave Potts 25 years in prison for the deaths of Larnell Griffin and Clarence Tate.

Potts, 38, argued for a low-end sentence, but Speir went with the mid-range term prosecutors recommended.

“There is no bringing those people back,” she said.

Prosecutors first charged Potts with Griffin’s death in 2015.

They said Potts and two other men went to the 35-year-old Tacoma man’s apartment April 16, 2015, and that Potts pointed a gun at him as they argued about cellphones.

Potts and Griffin struggled for the gun, and Potts shot him in the chest.

The other men, 33-year-old Jonathan Donell Turner and 37-year-old David Wayne Turner, have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and are to be sentenced next week.

After Potts was arrested for that homicide, detectives were able to connect him to Tate’s 2013 death.

Prosecutors said Potts and another man went to Tate’s Parkland apartment Sept. 5, 2013, because Potts believed Tate had had sex with Potts’ girlfriend.

Potts shot the 49-year-old Tate in the chest at the prompting of the other man, 24-year-old Elika Omeli, according to charging papers. Later, Potts shot himself in the leg to make it look like self defense, investigators said.

Omeli was sentenced to 13 years, four months last year.

Prosecutors dismissed charges of rendering criminal assistance against 34-year-old Cheyenne Caulk, who they initially said drove the men away from the scene. She and Omeli said she wasn’t the driver.

Ultimately, Potts pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder for Griffin’s death, and second-degree manslaughter for Tate’s, as part of negotiations with prosecutors.

Defense attorney Robert Quillian told the court Potts grew up with a mother addicted to drugs, and that they spent time in homeless shelters. Potts himself became a drug addict as a teenager, the attorney said.

Things looked up for Potts when he got treatment and started college when he was 21, but “the demons came back ... and here we are,” Quillian said.

Potts told the judge: “I have made a lot of mistakes that I am not proud of. ... It was not my intent to hurt anyone.”

He said he hoped Speir saw he was taking responsibility for what he’d done.

“At least I’m a man to admit my wrongdoing,” he said.

Potts apologized for his actions, and said he’d asked God for forgiveness, and now was asking that from the families of those he’d killed.

Deputy Prosecutor Bryce Nelson told the judge Griffin’s mother had written a letter, but decided to not attend sentencing.

“This was just too hard, essentially, for her to be here,” he said.

Tate’s sister, Mary Tate Coleman, tearfully told Speir: “I just don’t understand, your honor, why he had to kill my brother like that.”

Outside court, Tate’s 29-year-old daughter, Claresha Tate, said her father owned several stores in Pierce County that sold cellphones, pagers, and CDs.

He’s survived by a big family.

“The question I always come to is why,” she said.

This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Fatal disputes about cellphones, woman lead to long sentence for Pierce County man."