Gunman sentenced for killing a man who was trying to help him, court records say
A 25-year-old who fatally shot someone who was trying to help him get his car back has been sentenced, according to court records.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge James Orlando sentenced Tobrondria Richardson to 13-1/2 years in prison Friday.
Richardson pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the death of 36-year-old Jermaine Campbell.
Charging papers gave this account of what happened:
Police got a report of gunshots near the 3800 block of South Lawrence Street on March 12. Later Campbell was found dead with a gunshot wound in his SUV that had crashed into a parked semitruck in the area.
Investigators identified Richardson as a person of interest, and they learned Richardson, Campbell and a woman had been drinking together prior to the shooting.
The woman told police she hadn’t been in a confrontation and that she did not know Campbell was shot.
Richardson told investigators they were hanging out when the woman attacked him, tried to take a gun from him, then got in his car and drove off.
Campbell drove Richardson around trying to get Richardson’s car back.
They found it, then Richardson got out of Campbell’s SUV and shot at the woman.
“He walked in front of the SUV and while still shooting he said the SUV lurched forward a couple of times and bumped him,” the declaration for determination of probable cause said. “When he got to the side of the car he was still shooting when Campbell drove off. Richardson stated he did not mean to shoot Campbell.”
Richardson told investigators he was trying to shoot his own car “and didn’t even know he had hit the SUV or Campbell,” the probable cause statement said.
