No bail for man accused of fatally shooting ex-girlfriend in Lakewood
A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Lakewood and then fleeing to California has been extradited to Pierce County and was arraigned on a murder charge Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court.
Court Commissioner Craig Adams ordered William Lee Rickman held without bail. He pleaded not guilty.
Gloria Choi had a court order prohibiting Rickman from contacting her and told friends she feared for her life, according to court documents. She ended her relationship with Rickman, but he wouldn’t accept it, charging paper said.
“When she ended that relationship, her nightmare began,” deputy prosecuting attorney Sunni Ko said in court Thursday.
On Jan. 2, Choi was on the phone with 911 dispatchers begging for help when Rickman, whom she’d broken up with two months earlier, pinned her pickup against a telephone pole and fired at least 14 shots, records say. She died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Rickman, 46, has been charged with first-degree aggravated murder in connection with the homicide. He was arrested in Humboldt County, California.
Ko argued for no bail, citing the circumstances leading up to Choi’s homicide. Ko said Rickman has a propensity for violence and was a danger to the public.
Choi called 911 about 7:25 p.m. on Jan. 2 and was “very emotional,” telling dispatchers her ex-boyfriend was following her, was armed with a gun and she was too scared to get out of her truck, prosecutors wrote in an affidavit.
Dispatchers could hear Choi scream “hysterically, and some sort of pounding is heard. Seconds later, at least eight gunshots are heard in rapid succession,” records say.
The recording picked up another five gunshots about a minute after Choi stopped screaming.
Officers recognized Choi because of recent domestic violence confrontations involving Rickman. Choi sought help from law enforcement in Pierce, Thurston and Lewis counties, records say.
Rickman has an extensive criminal history in California, including domestic violence convictions, records say.
