Only sorry she missed: Tacoma woman sentenced for firing gun during argument with son

A 67-year-old Tacoma woman who fired a gun during an argument with her son was sentenced Friday to one year, three months in prison.

Rosa Mae Johnson pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault, and Pierce County Superior Court Judge Kathryn Nelson gave her a low-end sentence.

Defense attorney Bryan Hershman said Johnson told the court at sentencing that on May 23 “she felt as though she was under attack, and she fired into the ground to get him (the son) to leave.”

According to charging papers:

Johnson told investigators the shooting happened after she and her son argued, that he had assaulted her before and that she didn’t regret the shooting, only that she missed.

The son’s daughter, who was present at the time, told police something grazed her and left a bruise just as she buckled a 2-year-old into a vehicle.

Hershman said he and prosecutors asked the judge for a sentence of 18 months, and that after hearing Johnson speak, Nelson went with the lower term.

“In 67 years of life, she (Johnson) has never had so much as a parking ticket, and I think that in another 67 years of life she’s not gonna have so much as a parking ticket,” Hershman said.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Only sorry she missed: Tacoma woman sentenced for firing gun during argument with son."