Man who took a hostage, fired guns during Parkland robbery gets life without parole
A 34-year-old man was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court.
Randy Smith went to trial in connection to a standoff that involved a hostage and shots fired at a used car dealership in Parkland, and the verdict last week was Smith’s third strike under the state’s three-strikes law.
That meant the life sentence was all Judge Jack Nevin could give Smith.
Jurors convicted him of first-degree robbery, attempted first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, six counts of second-degree assault and two counts of unlawful gun possession.
Deputy prosecutor Kawyne Lund told the court it didn’t give the state pleasure to recommend life without parole.
“It’s not something I take lightly,” Lund said.
She said Smith put others at “grave risk” and that it was “unbelievable” that no one was hurt.
Defense attorney Mark Quigley said it also gave him “no pleasure at all to be in this position with Mr. Smith.”
He described his client as a “really intelligent person” and said “it’s a total waste.”
The attorney noted Smith’s difficult upbringing and said their mitigation package looked at school records, family relationships, substance abuse issues and mental health.
Smith went to prison as a young man, Quigley said, and was involved with the juvenile justice system.
“In some respects, Mr. Smith never really had a chance,” Quigley told the court. “... It’s really a tragedy.”
Should the state’s three-strikes law be reconsidered by the Legislature in the future, Quigley said, he’d like to think his client could “be given some hope” at release one day.
When it was Smith’s turn to speak, he apologized to the court and said he believes missing surveillance footage “could have changed aspects of this trial.”
Like the attorneys, Judge Nevin said it gave him “no satisfaction” to have to impose the sentence.
“This did not have to happen,” Nevin said. “It was unnecessary.”
Charging papers gave this account of what happened:
Smith carried a bag with a rifle, handgun and ammunition Sept. 6, 2018 as he tried to take vehicles from businesses near 134th Street South and Pacific Avenue.
Victims at the first business managed to flee.
At the next business, the declaration for determination of probable cause said, Smith “demanded, using profanity, that he was serious, and wanted a car with gas. The defendant pointed the handgun at all four individuals saying he would kill them if they didn’t cooperate.”
Police were in the area at that point. Some victims were able to flee, but Smith held one hostage. Ultimately that person also fled as Smith was trying to reload his rifle.
As sheriff’s deputies approached the business, shots were fired through the front and through the ceiling.
“It appeared at one point the defendant had broken a window and fired out of it, towards law enforcement,” the probable cause statement said.
The side of a vehicle and one of its tires was hit.
“Later the defendant, who had on body armor, was shot by deputies,” the probable cause statement said. “The body armor appeared to have protected him from more serious injuries.”
Smith was taken into custody after that when he came out with his hands raised.
Some of his prior convictions include robbery.
Court records said he pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery after he brandished a knife and demanded cash from the register of a Lakewood smoke shop in 2004, taking cigarettes instead after the man at the register fled.
Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery after he robbed a Tacoma hair studio and an ice cream shop at knifepoint in 2006. He took cash, a purse, a vehicle and left a cut on a woman’s neck at the hair studio, and he took cash from the tip jar and register of the ice cream shop, charging papers said. The same day he allegedly took a man’s wallet at knifepoint.
He was released from prison in February 2018, months before the Parkland robbery and shooting.
