Pierce County Superior Court’s first Latino judge has died
The first Hispanic/Latino person to serve on the Pierce County Superior Court bench has died, the county announced.
Sergio Armijo was 75. The county did not disclose his cause of death.
Armijo served as a Pierce County Superior Court judge in Department 9 for 15 years.
From 1994 to 2009, Armijo ruled in several notable cases, including a 1998 murder case involving a 23-year-old man accused of killing his boss and a land-use decision to preserve Eatonville park land.
Superior Court Presiding Judge Phil Sorensen said in a statement that the community and court would miss Armijo.
“While I never served with Judge Armijo, prior to becoming a judge I had the opportunity to try several cases in front of him,” Sorensen said. “He was a gentleman, treated others with respect and, despite his calm demeanor, always displayed the backbone one would expect with a resume like his.”
Armijo, born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican immigrants, joined the U.S. Army Special Forces in 1966. He served for three years, during which he was awarded a Bronze Star for Valor for combat in Vietnam. He also received a Purple Heart, a county press release said.
After his service, he moved to Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in political science in 1973. Three years later, he received his law degree from the university’s law school.
After school, Armijo worked in Yakima to provide legal assistance to migrant farm workers through the Smith Fellowship. He then worked with nonprofit Rural Opportunities for a year before opening his own law practice and became a contracted public defender for the Lower Yakima Valley.
The attorney later moved to Western Washington to become a Tacoma assistant city attorney. In 1988, he was appointed to fill a Municipal Court commissioner position, the county release said. Three years later he was appointed Tacoma Municipal Court judge and remained there until Gov. Mike Lowry appointed Armijo to the Pierce County Superior Court.
In 2008, he lost a re-election bid to attorney Michael Hecht and returned to private practice.
In 2013, Armijo was reprimanded by the Washington State Bar Association for violating professional rules of conduct in missing client’s hearings, according to News Tribune archives.
He volunteered at local organizations for children, like Maple Lane School, a correctional facility for children who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses. Armijo primarily worked with Spanish-speaking children, the county press release said. He also volunteered at Hilltop Optimists Youth Organization repairing bicycles and playing ball and served as the YMCA High School Mock Trial’s district convener for many years.
Armijo was father to four children, all of whom live in Washington. There will be a memorial service for Armijo at a later date.
