Pierce County mother of 5 was killed amid custody issues. Here’s the punishment
A 43-year-old man found guilty of first-degree domestic-violence murder for fatally shooting the mother of his child in the midst of a custody dispute was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison.
Duane Dushon Moore was convicted by a jury in March of killing 40-year-old Kayla Vallee inside his University Place apartment.
Vallee, a Bonney Lake resident, was a mother to five children and worked as a medical dispatcher at the University of Washington. She also worked at Walmart to make ends meet.
At least four people gave victim-impact statements during Moore’s sentencing hearing before Pierce County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Andrews, according to court records. Moore was not required to be present during the hearing. Relatives and family friends previously said Vallee enjoyed going to Seattle Kraken games with loved ones and doing river floats. She also liked helping out on her family’s farm in Orting.
Vallee and Moore shared custody of their 10-year-old son, according to court documents, and at the time of the murder the boy was temporarily living with Moore in University Place.
On the morning of Dec. 9, 2023, Vallee borrowed her mother’s car to drive to the apartment to pick up her son. According to charging documents, Vallee and Moore were supposed to discuss custody arrangements. Relatives previously told The News Tribune that Vallee, who was living with her mother in Orting, had recently gotten her own apartment.
A few hours later, Moore showed up to Vallee’s mother’s home and left the boy and his belongings in the driveway. The Sheriff’s Office was called to respond to Moore’s apartment, and deputies found Vallee dead inside.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined Vallee died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Deputies located Moore later that day on a trail south of Buckley after a 911 caller reported a suspicious vehicle. He was arrested after an hour-long standoff that ended with a stun-gun shot, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Moore had no prior criminal convictions, according to court records.
In other news from Superior Court:
Man sentenced for fatal shooting outside Tacoma apartment complex
A 27-year-old man accused of murder for a fatal shooting outside an apartment complex in Tacoma’s South End has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six years, six months in prison.
Adrian Ramirez Martinez pleaded guilty May 7 to first-degree manslaughter for the July 27, 2024 killing of 28-year-old Ismael Merino-Ramirez. He was sentenced the same day, receiving a punishment at the low end of the standard sentencing range.
In a victim-impact statement filed with the court, Merino-Ramirez’s uncle wrote in Spanish that his nephew’s wife and six children demand justice. He asked that Ramirez Martinez be sentenced to many years in prison.
Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that part of the reason they asked the court to allow them to amend the defendant’s charges from second-degree murder to first-degree manslaughter was that an eyewitness was reluctant to be involved in the case and feared retaliation.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Kara Sanchez also wrote that the resolution was appropriate because Ramirez Martinez was taking responsibility for his actions, was pleading guilty to a Class A felony and lacked a significant criminal history. She said there were other potential evidence issues.
It’s unclear what led to the shooting. According to court documents, a witness told police he used to live in the same apartment complex as the victim and the defendant, and the three used to drink together on weekends.
The witness drove around with Merino-Ramirez for food and drinks before the shooting. At about 1 a.m., Merino-Ramirez got a call from the defendant asking to meet up in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 9200 block of South Hosmer Street.
No one else was in the parking lot, according to the witness. He later told police he thought he heard Ramirez Martinez and Merino-Ramirez arguing, but he said he also heard the defendant laugh a couple of times. The witness reported that he didn’t hear what the two were talking about.
“When [the witness] ducked into the victim’s car to grab a phone charger, he heard the shot fired,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers. “He then stood up, looked around and saw the victim holding his chest while telling him to call the police.”
Ramirez Martinez then drove away.
Police responded and began life-saving measures on Merino-Ramirez until fire personnel arrived, but he died at the scene. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office later found he died of a gunshot wound to the torso.
