Man, 23, gets 60 years for Tacoma shooting. ‘It’s going to make me a better person’
Adrian Alvarez was going to prison for a long time, no matter what the court decided Tuesday at the 23-year-old’s sentencing.
Alvarez and others were on a mission to seek revenge for their gang when they shot and killed 28-year-old Robert Doss II last year, Pierce County Superior Court Judge John Hickman said.
It was “a miracle,” Hickman said, a woman who was injured in the shooting wasn’t killed.
The judge called the group’s actions “caveman behavior” and told Alvarez: “That is simply unacceptable in our society.”
Doss’ death was an execution and was premeditated, Hickman said.
Then he sentenced Alvarez to 60 years, four months in prison — a couple years above his standard sentencing range.
“He’ll have plenty of time to think about what he’s done,” the judge said.
Last month jurors convicted Alvarez of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and drive-by shooting.
Alvarez and two others were driving around looking for rival gang members to shoot July 18, 2018, in retaliation for a prior shooting that injured a fellow gang member. They happened upon Doss, who charging papers said they believed responsible.
Doss was shot in the chest when he was asked where he was from and answered, “Hilltop,” according to charging papers.
The two other men charged in connection to his death were sentenced last month.
Jayden Gene Montgomery Fisher, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree assault and drive-by shooting. He was sentenced to 16 years, seven months in prison.
Joshua Jazz Soria, 25, pleaded guilty to drive-by shooting, conspiracy to commit drive-by shooting and second-degree assault, three counts of third-degree assault and first-degree unlawful gun possession. He was sentenced to 32 years, six months.
“I think they did the right thing,” Doss’ father, Robert Doss Sr., told the court Tuesday about the men who pleaded guilty.
He told Alvarez: “You knew from the get-go what you did.”
Doss told the court losing a child is one of the worst things a parent has to face.
“Hopefully in some form, somewhere we can find peace and healing,” he said. “... I just feel that he should get the max.”
Asked about the allegation that the shooting might have been retaliation, Doss II’s uncle told the media last year: “That’s not our family.”
Prosecutors told the jury at trial that it wasn’t clear if Doss II was responsible for the prior shooting that injured Alvarez’s fellow gang member, but that, if accused, he was entitled to a courtroom, not street justice.
Deputy prosecutor Jesse Williams argued Tuesday for a sentence of more than 68 years for Alvarez.
“They saw a target in Mr. Doss,” Williams said of the group.
He said the woman who was with Doss at the time, who was shot in the hand, has been traumatized by what happened.
“They knew she was there,” Williams said. “... That did not deter the defendant from doing what he did.”
He also noted the jury found the crime to be gang-motivated, giving the judge discretion to go above the standard sentencing range.
Defense attorney Travis Currie argued for a sentence closer to 39 years, which was below the standard sentencing range.
He noted that the jury acquitted Alvarez of unlawful gun possession.
That meant they were “not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was the shooter,” Currie told the court.
He acknowledged that the judge had the discretion to go above the standard range.
“It was all gang-related,” Currie said.
But additional time for that is not mandatory, he argued.
He said the three men accused were young and that Alvarez clearly didn’t mean to involve the woman in what happened.
Currie also told the court he didn’t think Alvarez should be sentenced to double the time that the other men got.
When it was Alvarez’s turn to speak, he addressed Doss II’s father.
“I can’t sit here and say I have no remorse,” he said. “Everyone is being held accountable for their actions.”
He told Doss he was “deeply sorry” for what happened.
“This is my first time going to the joint,” Alvarez said. “... It’s going to be rough.”
He also said it would change him in a good way.
“It’s going to make me a better person,” he said. “... I’m going to go there to get my high school diploma, my GED.”
Doss said outside court he appreciated what Alvarez said in court and that he accepted his apology.
“It’s just hard, because nobody really wins in this situation,” Doss said. “I hate to see a young man spend the rest of his life in prison.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 3:23 PM.
