Recent criminal sentencings in Pierce County

Recent criminal sentencings in Pierce County included a man in Tacoma who received nearly 33 years in prison for the murder of a local business owner. Another case involved a mother's death from a stray gunshot. The shooter was sentenced to over 63 years in prison.

Another man was sentenced for orchestrating thefts across various malls in Washington. He stole goods worth $750,000. In Puyallup, a pawnshop owner was sentenced for trafficking stolen Lego sets.

Jerry Espana Davila leaves a Pierce County Superior Court room on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, after being sentenced to nearly 33 years in prison for the 2024 murder of Virgil “Ray” Stebbins in Tacoma. By Shea Johnson

NO. 1: WHY’D MAN KILL TACOMA CAR-LOT OWNER? BECAUSE HE’S ‘EVIL,’ VICTIM’S DAUGHTER SAYS

A 41-year-old man who had been deported multiple times was sentenced Friday to nearly 33 years in prison for fatally shooting a well-known figure in the local dirt-track racing scene outside the victim’s business in Tacoma. | Published October 18, 2025 | Read Full Story by Shea Johnson

Jerrmell Warren enters the courtroom for his sentencing on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma, Wash. Warren was convicted by a jury in August of felony murder for killing 39-year-old Angelina Palmer outside a Spanaway gas station in May 2022. By Liesbeth Powers

NO. 2: ‘YOU’RE NOT A MONSTER.’ PIERCE COUNTY MOTHER’S MURDERER FORGIVEN AT SENTENCING

Before Jerrmell Warren was sentenced to decades in prison Friday for murdering Angelina Palmer with a stray and reckless gunshot outside a Spanaway gas station, Palmer’s brother looked at Warren and offered words of forgiveness. | Published October 18, 2025 | Read Full Story by Peter Talbot

Defendant Anthony Wayne Neely gives a statement to the Pierce County Superior Court prior to his sentencing on October 24, 2024. By Bonny Matejowsky

NO. 3: LEGO LARCENY: PUYALLUP-AREA PAWNSHOP OWNER SENTENCED FOR SALES OF STOLEN TOYS

Lego sets can be a lot of things. | Published October 25, 2025 | Read Full Story by Bonny Matejowsky

NO. 4: HE STOLE $750K IN MERCHANDISE FROM MALLS ACROSS WESTERN WA. HERE’S HIS SENTENCE

A man described as one of the most “prolific retail thieves” the Washington Attorney General’s Office has seen in years has been sentenced for stealing $750,000 in merchandise from malls across three counties, including Pierce. | Published October 29, 2025 | Read Full Story by Puneet Bsanti

A stock photo of police lights. (Dreamstime/TNS)

NO. 5: HE TRIED TO SELL HIS AR-15 OUTSIDE A PIERCE CO. GROCERY STORE. TEENS ROBBED HIM

Two teenagers accused of first-degree robbery during a gun sale gone wrong in Spanaway have been sentenced. | Published November 6, 2025 | Read Full Story by Isabela Lund

NO. 6: EX-TACOMA LAWYER BLAMED CLIENT FOR MISSING FUNDS. TURNS OUT, HE STOLE HER MONEY

A former Tacoma lawyer was sentenced in federal court Friday to 18 months in prison for stealing more than a half-million dollars from a disabled client’s trust account while blaming her for spending too much money, the U.S. | Published November 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Shea Johnson

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.