Twice convicted for a Tacoma robbery and kidnapping, man gets same sentence

Shamarr Derrick Parker has twice been convicted of kidnapping and robbing a 17-year-old girl he came across at a Tacoma bus stop in 2008.

And convictions led to the same sentence: 20 1/2 years behind bars.

On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Garold Johnson gave him that high-end sentence, following Parker’s most recent trial.

In May, jurors found the 42-year-old guilty of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery, and not guilty of first-degree rape.

Parker’s initial convictions were overturned in 2015, when the Washington State Court of Appeals said prosecutors committed misconduct in the first trial by calling the case a “waking nightmare” and asking jurors to imagine the victim’s terror.

Jurors in the first trial also convicted Parker of kidnapping and robbery, and not of the rape. They couldn’t agree on that count, which was dismissed.

The teen told police Parker kidnapped her from a bus stop Dec. 19, 2008, by forcing her into his car at knifepoint.

Then, prosecutors argued, he took her to a field where he raped and robbed her.

After Parker left her, the girl made it home to her mother, who called 911.

Defense attorney Leslie Tolzin asked Johnson for a low-end sentence. He reiterated that Parker had been found not guilty of the rape, and pointed to changes in the victim’s account of what happened.

Deputy prosecutor Kara Sanchez, who did not prosecute Parker in the first trial, told the judge Parker has a violent criminal history.

“When the defendant is not incarcerated, your honor, he is committing crimes,” she said. “... This is a dangerous man.”

Court records show Parker was convicted of three counts of second-degree assault in a 1994 case, and that he has convictions for unlawful gun possession and drug charges.

When it was his turn to address Johnson, Parker said: “I trust in the appeals system.”