Man sentenced for fatally shooting his neighbor during argument in Tacoma alley
A man convicted of fatally shooting a man in a parking lot behind a Tacoma apartment in 2020 was sentenced Friday in Pierce County Superior Court.
Germi Zeigler, 29, was sentenced to 25 years, 4 months in prison for the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Ozelle Tyrece Tate. Zeigler’s sentence carries a deadly weapon sentencing enhancement, and it is the high end of the standard sentencing range for such cases.
Judge Susan Adams ruled against the defense attorney’s request for a shorter sentence, which unsuccessfully argued that the victim “initiated, participated or provoked” the shooting.
Zeigler was convicted of the crime in a three-week jury trial that began in October. Jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree manslaughter.
Jurors found Zeigler not guilty of two counts of tampering with a witness. Prosecutors accused the defendant of that crime based on phone calls he made to his girlfriend from Pierce County Jail.
The shooting occurred during an argument between the two men the afternoon of March 11 in Court G, an alley between South 15th and 16th streets near South Yakima Avenue.
According to the state’s sentencing memorandum, Zeigler and Tate had known each other as neighbors for several years. Prosecutors wrote that on that day, Zeigler confronted Tate, who was sitting in his car in an alley and changing his shoes after making an appearance in Pierce County Superior Court for a first-degree theft case in which he was charged.
Two witnesses testified that Zeigler drove into the alley and yelled at Tate that he wanted to talk to him, prosecutors wrote in the sentencing document.
Then, Zeigler walked up to Tate and pointed a gun at him. According to the witnesses, Tate had his hands up, and he told the defendant there wasn’t any need for a gun. While Tate was seated, Zeigler fired several shots, one of which struck the victim in the thigh.
Tate was transported to the hospital, but died about 30 minutes later from blood loss.
After the shooting, Zeigler fled the state. He was arrested in Macon, Georgia by a U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force.
