He shot at car full of teens stopped at light in Tacoma, wounding 4. Here’s his sentence
A 20-year-old Tacoma man has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for shooting at a car full of teenagers last year, injuring four people when he stopped alongside them at a traffic light and opened fire.
Ajay Allen pleaded guilty June 7 to first-degree assault and second-degree assault. Judge Shelly Speir-Moss on Monday handed down the punishment, a mid-range sentence of 163 months.
The Tacoma Police Department’s investigation of the May 21, 2022 shooting found that it might have been retaliation for the arrest of an apparent gang member, according to court records. Several victims in this case were related to a person killed in a gang-related shooting earlier in the year, and the person arrested in that case was believed to be a member of the same gang Allen was connected to.
Police said three girls, ages 15, 16 and 17, as well as a 17-year-old boy were struck by gunfire. According to court records, the teenagers drove directly to a hospital after the shooting. One suffered a gunshot to the forehead that wasn’t life-threatening, another was shot in the back and a third was hit in the neck. Court documents don’t detail the extent of the fourth victim’s injuries.
Allen fled from the scene near South 56th Street and South Yakima Avenue, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Police arrested him almost two weeks later. He was charged with five counts of first-degree assault.
The defendant’s charges were amended to two assault charges when he pleaded guilty. Prosecutors wrote in court filings that there was little cooperation from victims and proceeding to trial would have presented a “somewhat troublesome identity issue.” Prosecutors said the likely target of the shooting is a young man currently facing a murder charge. They noted that Allen was 19 when the crime occurred, and he has no criminal history.
“On the other hand, the defendant’s acts were egregious,” deputy prosecuting attorney Gregory Greer wrote. “This is yet another case where a young person decided to use a firearm in a violent act and to throw a significant portion of his life away for no reason. It is fortunate no one was killed during the shooting.”
One victim’s mother wrote to the court in July 2022 to request that Allen’s bail not be lowered from $750,000, stating that his arrest had given her daughter a sense of relief. The mother said when she drove to doctor’s appointments, she couldn’t avoid the street where the shooting occurred, and she felt paranoid every time she stopped at a traffic light.
Detectives began to suspect Allen was the shooting after a victim and a relative said the gunman might be named “AJ.” Further investigation found that a car in Allen’s driveway matched the suspect vehicle, and security video from a nearby home showed someone driving the car while wearing the same color jacket as the shooter. A victim also confirmed Allen shot them after looking at a photo montage provided by investigators, according to court documents.
Six friends and relatives of Allen submitted letters of support prior to sentencing. His mother, Anna Love-Allen, wrote that her son experienced several traumatic events in the months leading up to the shooting, which she asked to be considered when determining the length of his incarceration. The mother said the events made Allen’s mental state worse, describing how he had a strained relationship with his father, whom she divorced in 2019. She said the man emotionally and physically abused her son.
“At his core, Ajay is a kind and caring person,” Love-Allen wrote. “He is a loving and dedicated son, brother, uncle and grandson … He is not the monster that is being portrayed. He was a misguided young man who made a terrible decision.”
She also wrote of her son’s struggles in high school that led to him dropping out, the loss of his job at a construction company due to effects of the coronavirus pandemic on his employer, and the death of his grandmother a week before the shooting.
