He’d been out of prison for nearly 5 years. A Tacoma murder is sending him back for life

Yancy Wade Ray has spent much of his adult life behind bars, but for nearly five years he appeared to be on a law-abiding streak, according to court records.

But he broke that run in a way that got him sent back for good Friday.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Timothy Ashcraft sentenced the 51-year-old to life without parole, under the state’s “three strikes” law, for the fatal shooting of Hyson Sabb on Sept. 3, 2016.

Prosecutors argued at trial that Ray shot Sabb, 41, after he tried to intervene when Ray got angry at Sabb’s friend, who had recommended someone who could get marijuana for Ray to sell.

Ray argued the shooting in the 1500 block of South L Street was in self-defense, and that Sabb had been upset because Ray owed him money for a drug debt.

Jurors disagreed, and convicted Ray of second-degree murder and unlawful gun possession in November.

Deputy Prosecutor Rosie Martinelli asked Ashcraft for the life sentence, saying previous convictions Ray has for manslaughter and robbery in Multnomah County, Oregon, made Sabb’s death strike three.

“Mr. Ray is a persistent offender,” she said. “I am asking that the court sentence him as what’s otherwise known as a ‘third striker,’ to life in prison.”

The first strike was after Ray and another man tried to rob a woman of cocaine, marijuana and cash in 1984, and the other man fatally shot her, according to Oregon court records of the manslaughter case.

Strike two was when Ray was convicted of third-degree robbery in 1993.

Defense attorney Sunni Ko argued Friday that the records of Ray’s pleas in those cases were deficient. Instead of a life sentence, she asked in her sentencing memorandum for a 17-year term for Ray.

Prosecutors told the judge in their sentencing brief that Ray has spent most of his adult life behind bars or on parole — most recently for dealing drugs and trying to elude police. In that case, he was released from prison in 2011.

Ray declined to speak at the Friday sentencing, and no one from Sabb’s family addressed the court.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 5:42 PM with the headline "He’d been out of prison for nearly 5 years. A Tacoma murder is sending him back for life."