He was 17 when he gunned down a Tacoma boy. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to murder
A Tacoma teenager pleaded guilty Thursday to firing gunshots from a car at a group of four boys gathered at an Eastside bus stop, killing a 14-year-old and sending others running.
William Kalama, 19, pleaded guilty in Pierce County Superior Court to second-degree murder and third-degree assault for the Jan. 12, 2023, shooting that killed Xaviar Siess.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Mark Sanchez said in court that the state would argue for a high-end sentence of 22 years, 8 months in the state’s custody. Kalama’s defense attorney, Bryan Hershman, said he would request a low-end punishment of 14 years, 4 months. A sentencing hearing was set for Oct. 28.
Kalama was 17 when the shooting occurred, and he was prosecuted as an adult. In Washington, young people sentenced for crimes committed before they are 18 go to juvenile rehabilitation in the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families until age 25, when they would transfer to the Department of Corrections.
Prosecutors originally charged Kalama with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and two counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Hershman told The News Tribune that if he’d been convicted as charged, he would have been looking at more than 40 years in prison.
Charging documents in the case alleged that Kalama was driving with his girlfriend that afternoon to get snacks when they passed by the bus stop just north of 40th Street East and Portland Avenue. Surveillance video captured the silver Honda Accord going south on Portland at about 2:57 p.m.
The car stopped before reaching the 40th Street intersection, reversed and turned into the left lane, cutting off southbound traffic. What looked like a handgun could be seen out of the driver’s window, according to the probable cause document, and gunshots were heard.
Siess fell to the ground, and two others ran off while another 14-year-old boy crouched on the ground. Tacoma Police Department detectives were dispatched just before 3 p.m., and they found the boy putting pressure on Siess’s wound when they arrived. Siess was transported to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, where he died.
Detectives suspected that the shooting was gang-related, a Police Department spokesperson previously told The News Tribune. Siess was not involved in gangs, but police said some of the others at the bus stop were.
Siess’s mother, Daine Mabel, was not in court Tuesday, and The News Tribune could not reach her for comment on the outcome of the case. In the month after the shooting, she told the newspaper she was upset by how young everyone involved was.
At the time, Siess was starting the second half of his freshman year at Oakland High School. He was an older brother to three sisters. Family, teachers and friends described him as a bright young person whom others gravitated toward.
He was the youngest person to die in a fatal shooting in Pierce County last year, which was marred by spates of violence among young people. About seven months earlier, another 14-year-old, Iyana Ussery, was killed in a shooting on Tacoma’s Hilltop. Both shootings prompted somber statements from city leaders and commitments to make Tacoma a safer place to live.
Kalama was arrested in Siess’s death four days after the shooting. Law enforcement used surveillance video from multiple businesses on Portland Avenue, vehicle records and an interview with a person described as his girlfriend to identify him as a suspect. Investigators reportedly found a .45-caliber handgun in his bedroom through a search warrant, which was the same caliber of bullets found near the shooting scene.
At Kalama’s plea hearing Thursday, the defendant entered the courtroom unrestrained and politely answered questions from the court while Judge Karena Kirkendoll asked him whether he understood the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty.
Then, Kirkendoll asked him how he pleaded to the two charges.
“Guilty,” Kalama said to each.
Shortly after, he stood and put his hands behind his back. A deputy handcuffed him, and he was led out of the room. He has been in custody for the duration of the case on $1.5 million bail, and he will be held without bail until sentencing.
Kalama’s parents were in the courtroom gallery for the hearing, according to his defense attorney. They declined to speak to The News Tribune after court adjourned.
In a phone call, Hershman said that leading up to the hearing, he and prosecutors had been trying to tiptoe through a minefield that contains an unspeakable tragedy. He said Kalama did not have a criminal past, and he was very remorseful.
“It’s kind of messed up because I’ve watched him grow up in jail,” Hershman said. “He has tears in his eyes when he talks about what happened. He prays for this boy every night. It’s kind of rendering me speechless, the amount of tragedy that finds its way into society and then courtrooms.”
