Pierce County woman guilty in pellet-gun death; Man sentenced for stealing $9K clarinet
A 49-year-old woman accused of murder for fatally shooting her boyfriend with a pellet gun near Graham has pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.
Nicole Lynn Johnson admitted Feb. 4 to causing 51-year-old Ricky Albers’ death with criminal negligence while armed with a deadly weapon, Pierce County Superior Court records show. According to charging documents, Johnson believed Albers was cheating on her and shot him during an argument.
Johnson later told detectives with the Sheriff’s Office that she didn’t know the pellet gun was loaded before she fired it at Albers. Court documents state that an autopsy found the metal pellet entered Albers back and penetrated his lung. The Medical Examiner’s Office later described the cause of death as “gunshot wound of chest (pellet gun).”
The domestic-violence shooting occurred May 1, 2024, at the trailer Johnson and Albers lived in west of Graham.
The defendant is to be sentenced March 11. Prosecutors have recommended she be given two years, nine months in prison, which includes a 12-month deadly weapon sentencing enhancement. She has no prior felony convictions.
Johnson was originally accused of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree assault. Deputy prosecuting attorney Dru Swaim wrote in a court filing asking the court to accept the amended charges that there were potential proof issues with the murder and manslaughter charges if the case proceeded to trial.
Swaim wrote that further investigation revealed potential issues with proving that Johnson engaged in intentional or reckless conduct when she fired a pellet gun at the victim’s back.
In other news out of Superior Court:
Man who stole Tacoma musician’s $9,000 clarinet sentenced in 2 cases
A 25-year-old man accused of stealing a pricey clarinet from the owner of a music store on Tacoma Mall Boulevard and trying to sell it to different pawnshops last year has been sentenced in two criminal cases.
The man pleaded guilty Feb. 4 in Pierce County Superior Court to first-degree theft for taking the instrument, and he was sentenced the same day to six months in jail.
The same day, he pleaded guilty to domestic-violence residential burglary for unlawfully entering a family member’s residence in Tacoma in August 2024, about four months after the clarinet theft. He also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm that belonged to the family member.
Judge James Orlando handed the defendant a drug offender sentencing alternative. According to the Department of Corrections, that type of punishment reduces or eliminates confinement in exchange for the defendant’s participation in treatment. The department says completing treatment reduces the likelihood that the person will re-offend.
Offenders serve the initial part of their sentence in prison and the remainder of their sentence while on community supervision, according to the Department of Corrections. In these cases, court records show the defendant was sentenced to 12-plus months in prison followed by 7.5 months of community custody.
The defendant’s sentence in the burglary will be served at the same time as his punishment in the clarinet-theft case. The instrument was taken from High Note Audio in May 2024. The store’s owner, Victor Prinsen, previously told The News Tribune that it was handmade in Paris. He said he bought it for $5,000 and spent thousands more customizing it.
Prinsen got the clarinet back undamaged after the defendant tried to sell it to two pawn shops. He said he played it that night for a concert.
