He killed the Tacoma man who treated him as a son. He never said why, even at sentencing
Nelvin Tucker’s family wanted to know why he was killed.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend couldn’t answer that question Monday as she sentenced a man Tucker had treated like a son to 15 years in prison.
She told the family court records didn’t explain why 27-year-old Emilio Vincente Calvillo shot Tucker last year in Tacoma. Calvillo, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month, didn’t explain either.
Tucker, the judge said, appeared to have been kind and generous with his time. The 51-year-old had taken care of Calvillo for years and let him stay with him at times, court records said.
Arend said it was hard to reconcile letters from Calvillo’s loved ones, who described him as a caring family man, with what he did.
Defense attorney Travis Currie told the court Calvillo had a challenging childhood. He also said his client had gone back to Tucker many times, that their relationship had been volatile, and that at times they had fought and argued.
Tucker’s loved ones largely took Calvillo into their extended family, and the Currie acknowledged the sense of violation and betrayal they might feel.
Arend said she hopes Tucker’s family can forgive Calvillo one day, for their sake.
She also said an explanation about what happened might help the family move forward and that at some point she hopes Calvillo can give them one.
Most anyone with family might lose their temper at times, the judge reasoned.
“That’s a lot different than pulling out a gun and shooting somebody,” she said.
Charging papers alleged two people living at apartments near South Orchard and 58th streets heard popping, looked outside, and saw Calvillo leave Tucker’s apartment and run away May 8, 2020. They knocked on Tucker’s door, and when he answered it, he collapsed. He allegedly said Calvillo’s name, then paramedics arrived and took Tucker to Tacoma General Hospital, where he died.
Tucker’s daughter told investigators that Calvillo had been blasting music a couple days before, and that Tucker accused him of being disrespectful and told him to leave and give back his keys to the apartment, according to charging papers.
When it was Calvillo’s turn to address the court at sentencing, he apologized to Tucker’s family.
The family told the court the 51-year-old was dearly loved and that he died just before he was to learn he was going to have a grandson.
They said repeatedly that Tucker had taken Calvillo in and treated him like a son.
Deputy prosecutor Loren Halstrom told the court Tucker seemed to be one of the few people who cared deeply about Calvillo and that Calvillo repaid that kindness by killing him.
Hopefully, the prosecutor said, Calvillo will come out of prison in his 40s a better person.
The person Tucker always hoped he could be.
