He shot a man in the chest over trailer parking in Eatonville. Now he’s been sentenced
In July 2019, Robert Warner was in his trailer in Eatonville when he saw a man point a shotgun at his girlfriend’s son. He stepped outside and tackled the man, who shot him in the chest.
Warner’s killer, Hobert Wayne Clark, 27, was sentenced Friday in Pierce County Superior Court to 26 years in prison for killing the 50-year-old man over a dispute about where the victim could park his trailer.
Clark previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. His prison sentence was in line with prosecutors’ recommended sentencing length.
Warner’s older sister, Schelly Selvar, wrote a letter to the judge on what would have been Warner’s 53rd birthday.
“We ask of you to make fair, firm and longest possible prison sentence for a man who took the heart from our family,” Selvar wrote.
Clark’s girlfriend at the time of the killing, Christina Kitchens, was charged as a co-defendant for allegedly helping to hide the shotgun used to kill Warner. She pleaded guilty in November 2019 to first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
The shooting occurred July 28, just over a month after Clark was released from prison. He had been sentenced the previous December to 17 months for beating a different girlfriend with his fists and a wooden coat hanger.
After Clark was released from prison, he worked as landlord for his parents’ two-acre parcel in the 4600 block of 350th Street East, The News Tribune previously reported. One of Clark’s friends also helped oversee the people living there.
Through Clark’s friend, Warner’s girlfriend arranged for herself, her son and Warner to stay on the property temporarily and park their trailer there, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause.
Upset by this, Clark allegedly asked the group to leave. Within a couple of days, the group moved their trailer off the property to land close by, which Clark’s parents didn’t own.
Clark visited the spot the group moved to and was still angry about their presence, prosecutors wrote in the probable cause statement. Again, he told them to leave.
The group began searching for a new place to move, but when Clark returned July 28 and found them still there, the dispute turned deadly.
According to charging papers, Clark met with his friend on the property about 5 p.m. that day and told him he was angry the group was still on the neighboring property. He allegedly took a shotgun from his motorcycle and said something like, “They got to be taught a lesson.”
While Clark and his friend walked toward where the group was parked, Clark allegedly fired the shotgun near his friend. Prosecutors wrote that Clark’s friend “froze” and was afraid he was going to be killed.
Clark continued toward the trailer, where Warner’s girlfriend’s son was sitting outside with his dog. According to the probable cause statement, Clark pointed the shotgun at the son, walked toward him and said, “You think this is a game?”
Then, Warner came out from the trailer and tackled Clark. He was shot in the chest and died at the scene.
After the shooting, a witness saw Clark running from the scene. “I just shot that fool,” Clark said as he passed the witness, according to an affidavit filed by the deputy prosecutor.
Clark left on his motorcycle before deputies arrived about 5:15 p.m. He was arrested several days later after being spotted in a vehicle.
In the victim impact statement from Warner’s sister, Selvar called her brother a soulfully peaceful man who had a life’s calling to nature and fishing. She said her brother was a hero for saving a boy’s life, but that he deserved a better way to leave the world.
“He reacted without even thinking just waking up from a nap on a very hot day,” Selvar wrote. “I assume he didn’t even have time to stop and think, he just saw something wrong and did the right thing by trying to save his friend’s life.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
