Second man sentenced for fatal home-invasion robbery at Tacoma apartment
A man convicted as part of a deadly home-invasion robbery in Tacoma where a 24-year-old man was shot to death in his apartment in 2018 has been sentenced.
Da’ron Lemar Jackson-Warren, 30, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Pierce County Superior Court on Friday for second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree assault. A sentence length below the standard sentencing range was granted as part of a plea agreement, according to court filings.
Jackson-Warren is the second man to be sentenced for the murder of Jawuan Swift. Perris-Karlton L. Daniel III was sentenced Dec. 3 to 20 years in prison.
According to charging documents, Swift was shot by either Jackson-Warren or Daniel in the early hours of Jan. 17, 2018 after they kicked in his apartment door in the 600 block of South Steele Street. The men took $2,000 from Swift’s girlfriend and fled.
Jackson-Warren pleaded guilty to the charges in November. In his statement, the defendant said he did not admit to robbing or killing Swift. He said he pleaded guilty due to the likelihood of being convicted at trial.
The defendant was serving time in state prison when he was charged with Swift’s murder in January 2019. He had been sentenced to a year and a day in King County Superior Court for a robbery at a Bellevue department store
The victim was asleep in a bedroom with his girlfriend and her 5-year-old child when the incident began about 2:30 a.m. Swift’s girlfriend heard the front door being kicked in and their dog growling.
Swift went to see what was happening, and, when he opened the bedroom door, two men were standing in front of him, each armed with a gun. One of the men shot Swift in the chest, and he fell to the ground. He died at the scene.
The men demanded money, and Swift’s girlfriend gave them about $2,000. Both men wore ski masks, but the girlfriend noted one man’s distinctive eyes.
She found a picture of the man on Facebook and identified him to law enforcement. He was later identified as Jackson-Warren.
Surveillance video near the apartment building captured the vehicle the men used in the robbery. It showed them appearing to scope out the apartment building about an hour beforehand. The video allowed detectives to trace a license plate number on the car.
Police obtained search warrants to scour cell phone records and social media activity. Using calls and cell phone towers, detectives were able to track Jackson-Warren’s and Daniel’s movements the day of the killing.
It’s unclear why Swift was targeted. According to the probable cause statement, Daniel contacted an acquaintance of Swift about 6:40 p.m. the night of the murder. Daniel sent a message to that person asking for Swift’s phone number and had a phone call with the acquaintance.
