Man sentenced for running over Milton policeman; sentences in Tacoma shootings, sex sting
A 33-year-old man accused of running over a Milton Police Department officer while fleeing a drug transaction that police were tipped off to pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Jory Edward Nelson pleaded guilty in Pierce County Superior Court to second-degree assault, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, failure to remain at an injury accident and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.
Officer Erik Haney was seriously injured in the June 19, 2024 incident and underwent surgery for a broken leg. Haney spoke at Nelson’s sentencing hearing via Zoom. In a victim impact statement filed with the court, Haney said the man nearly killed him and that his injuries had left his career, financial security and family’s future uncertain.
“He chose to physically resist two police officers,” Haney wrote. “He chose to put the vehicle in drive and used thousands of pounds of solid metal to break my bones, tear my ligaments, damage my flesh, and kill my nerves.”
Haney said the sound of his femur bone being broken was audible on nearby security cameras, and he remembered seeing the tires of Nelson’s vehicle come inches from his head.
According to charging documents, the incident occurred after a tipster told another Milton police officer they were going to meet Nelson at a Taco Bell on Meridian Avenue East to buy about an ounce of fentanyl.
Nelson arrived there at 5:30 a.m. in a black BMW SUV. Haney was already on scene, and he approached the vehicle to arrest Nelson, according to the probable cause document. Nelson started the SUV, and Haney tried to grab the man’s arm. Nelson drove off, dragging Haney, who eventually fell from the vehicle and was run over as Nelson exited the parking lot.
Kent Police Department officers later arrested Nelson. A search warrant was obtained, records state, and inside the SUV officers found more than 26 grams of fentanyl, seven bags of “magic mushrooms,” three bags of marijuana, a bag of methamphetamine, digital scales and a fake gun.
The sentence Judge Philip Sorensen imposed Friday was an exceptional sentence above the standard sentencing range. According to court records, the fact that Nelson knew the person he ran over was a law enforcement officer was an aggravating factor that justified an exceptional sentence, and prosecutors and the defense agreed to recommend a 100-month sentence as part of a plea agreement.
Prosecutors also agreed to dismiss one count of vehicular assault. According to court records, Nelson had no prior felony convictions. He has seven prior misdemeanor convictions, including fourth-degree assault, carrying a concealed pistol without a permit and third-degree theft.
In other news out of Superior Court:
Tacoma man gets decades for murder in shooting that killed 1, injured 1
A 44-year-old man who fatally shot a man in a Tacoma parking lot and then shot the victim’s brother in the back while he ran from the scene was sentenced Friday to 39 years, five months in prison.
William Pierre Pelkey was found guilty in a jury trial Feb. 27 of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for the 2023 shooting that killed 56-year-old Pepe Jaquez and left Jesse Jaquez, then 50, with life-threatening injuries.
According to court records, the incident stemmed from a dispute between Pelkey and Pepe Jaquez over a months-long affair Jaquez had with Pelkey’s longtime girlfriend. After Pelkey confronted the woman about the affair, she reportedly told him that Jaquez had nonconsensual sex with her, which she later reported to law enforcement as a rape.
Jaquez denied that allegation when he was interviewed by law enforcement, according to court documents, and he accused Pelkey of being violent with the woman.
The dispute between Pelkey and Jaquez initially played out in harsh phone conversations, according to prosecutors’ trial brief. It escalated in summer 2023 when Pelkey and the woman crossed paths with Jaquez on a bike path adjacent to state Route 16, which led to a confrontation at a nearby store where Jaquez allegedly pulled a knife on Pelkey.
Things came to a head on Aug. 27, 2023, when Pelkey and Jaquez again crossed paths. According to prosecutors, Jaquez and his younger brother were spending time together that night at Franklin Park when Jaquez gave his brother a ride to see a friend.
At the same time, Pelkey was out riding his bicycle. When the two groups saw each other at Union Avenue and 18th Street, Jaquez reportedly turned his SUV around and followed Pelkey.
On Union, Jaquez stopped his SUV and reportedly said to Pelkey “Will, what’s up? Do you want to handle it now?” There was some back and forth, according to prosecutors, and then Jaquez pulled into a bank parking lot. Jaquez reportedly drove toward Pelkey, and when the SUV arrived closer to him, Pelkey stepped out from behind a streetlight and shot Jaquez, striking him in the head.
Prosecutors said Jesse Jaquez stumbled out of the vehicle and “ran for his life.” Pelkey then fired multiple shots at the man, striking him in the back. Jesse Jaquez continued to run and sought help while Pelkey rode away on his bicycle. The gun used in the shooting was reportedly never recovered.
According to prosecutors, Pelkey later told Tacoma Police Department detectives he shot Jesse Jaquez while he ran away because he “was scared [Jesse Jaquez] was going to say my name.”
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors recommended a high-end sentence for the attempted murder of Jesse Jaquez and a low-end sentence for Pepe Jaquez’s murder, noting that jurors decided the state did not prove the murder was premeditated beyond a reasonable doubt.
One of Pelkey’s defense attorneys from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Chandra Carlisle, wrote in a sentencing memorandum that in the defendant’s interview with police, he repeated more than 30 times that he had been scared of Pepe Jaquez.
“While the jury did not find in favor of self-defense, this is not a situation where William Pelkey sought out Pepe and Jesse Jaquez looking for a fight,” the attorney wrote. “They came to him.”
Former Tacoma doctor and Army colonel sentenced in child-sex sting case
A former Tacoma-area cardiologist and U.S. Army colonel who was caught trying to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer was sentenced Friday to two years, seven months in prison.
Jeffrey Scott Kunz, 48, pleaded guilty in September to second-degree child molestation and attempted sexual abuse of a minor.
The punishment Judge Philip Sorensen imposed was at the low end of the standard sentencing range, according to court records. Prosecutors and the defense had agreed to recommend the 31-month sentence.
Kunz will be required to register as a sex offender, records state, and he will undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation. He was also ordered to have no contact with minors except his own biological children. Kunz had no prior criminal history.
The sting operation Kunz was ensnared in was conducted by the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task Force, according to court records. Detectives posted advertisements seeking individuals who were interested in sex with minors.
Kunz was arrested after repeatedly texting a phone number in an ad between Nov. 22, 2022 and Jan. 19, 2023, then agreeing to meet up with the fictitious girl for $300 at a hotel on South 48th Street.
The defendant was a cardiologist for MultiCare Health System when charges were filed in January 2023. A spokesperson said Kunz did most of his work out of Tacoma General Hospital, and he resigned from his position Jan. 25, 2023.
Kunz previously worked as chief of Cardiology Services at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord from 2014 to 2022, when he retired from service.
Tacoma man sentenced for manslaughter in fatal shooting
A 25-year-old man who fatally shot a man in a Tacoma apartment complex has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years, five months in prison.
Keith Eldon Covey pleaded guilty March 17 to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for the Dec. 5, 2023 incident that killed 27-year-old Lane Gouker.
Judge Ingrid Mcleod sentenced Covey the same day, handing him a punishment at the high end of the standard sentencing range. According to court records, prosecutors and the defense agreed to recommend that length of sentence.
Covey was initially accused of second-degree murder for the shooting. In a court filing, deputy prosecuting attorney Tyler Kennedy noted that evidence problems existed that made a conviction on the original charge doubtful.
In his guilty-plea statement, Covey admitted to recklessly discharging a firearm that resulted in Gouker’s death.
According to charging documents, witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots at the apartment complex in the 9300 block of South Ash Street. One witness told police he was inside the apartment with Covey and two women, and he later saw Gouker outside, who reportedly told him he wanted to get his stuff back from inside the apartment.
The witness allegedly went inside and told people that Gouker wanted his things back. People inside reportedly said Gouker would have to wait. According to charging documents, Gouker later tried kicking the door of the apartment open. That’s when Covey allegedly came out of his bedroom and fired three to four gunshots at Gouker.
Gouker was then driven to a hospital in a private vehicle, where he was pronounced dead.
