Hours after leaving prison, he killed a woman. Here’s why his sentence is short
A man who killed a 33-year-old woman outside her Lake Tapps home during a scuffle over a handgun has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Jason Arnold pleaded guilty earlier this month in Pierce County Superior Court to first-degree manslaughter in the March 24, 2022, incident that left Abbie Rupnick dead. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree identity theft in a case that was incorporated from King County.
Judge Joseph Evans handed down the punishment on Aug. 9, an exceptional sentence below the standard range of 17 years, six months to 23 years, four months in prison for defendants prosecuted in similar cases.
Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Adam Faber said evidence in the case did not point to any intent to kill. The evidence included one eyewitness’s testimony and security camera footage shot from a distance.
“It shows that Mr. Arnold and the victim were having a dispute over Mr. Arnold leaving her house with a firearm,” Faber said in an email. “They were in close proximity arguing about the gun, tussling over it, and her hand was on the slide when the firearm discharged.”
Arnold, 39, was released from prison the day before the shooting after serving a sentence for attempted assault and tampering with a witness in King County. Records state he has five other prior felony convictions and a federal conviction for drug crimes.
Arnold went to Rupnick’s house after he was released, according to charging documents, and the shooting occurred at about 2:21 the next morning in a cul de sac on 60th Street East.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the scene, and Rupnick was taken to a hospital, where she died of a gunshot wound to the torso. The death was first investigated as suspicious — the 911 caller said it was an accidental shooting — but after further investigation, Arnold was arrested. Prosecutors charged him the next day with two counts of second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
A longtime friend of Arnold dropped him off at Rupnick’s house the previous day with the plan that he would stay there until he could find a place to live, the defendant’s attorneys from the Department of Assigned Counsel wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Instead, the two argued over a stolen Beretta 9mm handgun, and while the two struggled over the weapon in Rupnick’s driveway, it went off.
It’s unclear what led to the argument. Arnold’s attorneys said hours after he was dropped off, he called his friend saying he had to leave because he feared he was going to be harmed.
Arnold said Rupnick told him to hide in her garage because an ex-boyfriend would be angry if he was found in the home. The attorneys said it’s unknown if this is an accurate description of the situation, noting that Arnold has a long history of diagnosed mental health conditions, including bipolar and schizoaffective disorder.
Arguing that Arnold deserved an exceptional sentence of 13 years, his attorneys said there’s reason to believe Rupnick’s decision-making may have been affected by several drugs that were in her system, including meth, fentanyl, buprenorphine and amphetamine. The attorneys said neither person was legally allowed to possess firearms due to prior criminal convictions.
Arnold’s friend tried to pick him up several times, according to charging documents, but she left after hearing that he and Rupnick were arguing about a gun.
The friend told Sheriff’s Department detectives Arnold had asked her earlier that day to get him a gun under her name, but she refused. He didn’t give her a reason for wanting a gun.
She told detectives the final time she went to the house, Rupnick walked out first, followed by Arnold. The two were in front of her car, and she locked her doors, telling them no one was getting inside with a gun.
“If you have a gun, give it back and let’s just go,” the witness reported saying. She then saw a bright flash and heard Arnold say “let’s go,” records state. The woman went to the victim’s side, and they both called 911.
A neighbor’s video camera captured part of the shooting, Arnold’s attorneys wrote, but it didn’t show who was holding the gun when it fired. According to the sentencing memo, the weapon had a cartridge still jammed in the barrel and the slide was impeded when it was recovered, which they said supported Arnold’s claim that the shooting wasn’t intentional. They said he has maintained he was trying to leave Rupnick’s home, and she had the gun.
