Man sentenced in connection to fatal shooting of soldier outside Tacoma nightclub
A man convicted in connection to the fatal shooting of a soldier outside a Tacoma nightclub was sentenced Friday.
Marshall Marion Wilson is one of two men tried for the death of 22-year-old Daquan Foster.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Jack Nevin sentenced the 36-year-old to a high-end sentence of 43 years, four months in prison.
Wilson, a rap music promoter, was convicted at trial earlier this year of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and unlawful gun possession.
The court ordered a mistrial regarding the other man charged, 32-year-old Randy Louis Donaldson, after jurors could not come to a decision in his case.
The shooting happened early Oct. 28, 2017 outside a club in the 8400 block of South Hosmer Street.
Charging papers say Foster was leaving the club with his wife and friends when some sort of argument started with Wilson, who was outside, as was Donaldson. Wilson and Donaldson had allegedly been at the club that night but had not interacted with Foster inside.
The argument turned into a fight, and someone fired a gun, charging papers say.
Foster was shot several times and later died at a hospital. His wife was shot in the thumb.
Police found shell casings from two different guns at the scene.
Deputy prosecutor Jesse Williams read the court a letter from Foster’s wife, who described her husband as a selfless, tolerant, genuine person.
“We were best friends,” she wrote. “Two peas in a pod.”
He enlisted in the Army during a time of war, she wrote. His sensitive and thoughtful approach to life made him a good father, husband and soldier, the letter said.
Williams asked the court to sentence Wilson to 53 years, above his standard sentencing range.
“This is not an isolated incident,” the prosecutor said.
Among Wilson’s prior convictions is first-degree assault and a federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Williams said.
Wilson was on federal probation at the time of the shooting that killed Foster, the prosecutor told the judge.
He said Wilson presents an extreme danger to the community and that the shooting “was unbelievably senseless.”
Defense attorney Paula Olson told the judge: “It is not really entirely clear who did what in this case.”
Since Wilson’s prior crimes, she argued, “He has tried to turn his life around.”
He’s worked and taken care of his children, Olson said.
She asked for a sentence below the standard range, suggesting Wilson actually tried to protect a victim during the shooting.
When it was Wilson’s turn to address the court, he gave the judge a written statement in which he maintained his innocence.
He told the judge he would have stopped what happened to Foster if he’d been in a position to do so.
“My heart does go out to them for their loss,” he said of Foster’s family.
Before Judge Nevin handed down the sentence he said that Foster “did not need to die that night.”
He also said, “Mr. Wilson has opted for a life of violence,” noting that Wilson got an additional assault conviction during his time in jail.
“None of it was necessary,” Nevin said of the shooting.
Then he gave Wilson his sentence.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 7:00 AM.
