Suspect in killing at Tacoma motel used victim’s own gun to shoot him, records say
A man suspected of shooting and killing another man in September at a Tacoma motel was arrested Monday in King County. Records say the victim was shot while confronting the suspect for allegedly stealing the gun from him.
Sirrone Terrell Newbern, 42, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in Pierce County Superior Court.
He pleaded not guilty at arraignment and bail was set at $2 million.
Newbern is charged in connection with the Sept. 23 fatal shooting of Antonio Robinson. Officers from Tacoma Police Department found Robinson, 35, shot in the parking lot of a motel at 8820 S. Hosmer St.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office later said he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
In October, Tacoma police said they believed Newbern was the suspect and issued a bulletin seeking help from the public to find him. A bench warrant for Newbern’s arrest was issued Oct. 1.
Newbern has several prior felony convictions, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery in 2016 and was convicted of first-degree attempted murder in 1997.
Charging papers gave this account of what happened:
Officers from Tacoma Police Department were dispatched at about 5:40 a.m. Sept. 23 for a report of a shooting at a motel on South Hosmer Street.
When officers arrived, they found Robinson alive but struggling to breathe in the front passenger’s seat of a vehicle. He was declared dead at about 6:02 a.m.
A witness told police she was parked in the parking lot of the motel when she saw a physical struggle between Robinson and a man she called “Baby K.” Prosecutors wrote in charging papers that is Newbern’s nickname. The witness said she saw Robinson grab Newbern’s wrist, and multiple people told him to drop a gun.
A gunshot was fired, and the witness and several other people ran behind a van, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Then, the witness said, she heard three more gunshots. When she came back around from behind the van, she saw Robinson lying on the ground.
Two other witnesses described the shooting to police. One said she was standing by a van when she saw Robinson drive into the parking lot and park in front of it. Behind the van, she saw a man holding a gun at his side. She went to the driver’s side of the van to tell its passengers they needed to get out, then heard a gunshot.
As police investigated, they found and interviewed Robinson’s girlfriend, who had been staying with him in a room at the motel. According to the probable cause statement, the girlfriend told police Newbern stole a pistol from Robinson.
The morning of the shooting, she said, she and Robinson were sleeping in bed together when a man knocked on their door and told Robinson that Newbern was outside. The girlfriend said Robinson went outside to get the gun back and she stayed in bed. A short time later, “people from the motel” knocked on her door and told her “Baby K” shot Robinson, prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
The girlfriend told police she had boxes of ammunition in her motel room that were for Robinson’s gun. She turned over a box of .40-caliber ammo to police.
Detectives noted that manufacturer markings on shell casings found at the scene matched the markings on bullets in that box of ammunition.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 1:01 PM.
