He was headed to job in Tacoma when drunk driver killed him. Here’s the sentence
A 38-year-old man who drove drunk in Pierce County and caused a three-vehicle wreck that killed a man from Buckley on his way to work has been sentenced to eight years, two months in prison.
Matthew F. Geiger of Elma pleaded guilty in Superior Court to vehicular homicide for the June 5, 2024 wreck at the interchange for state routes 167 and 410 near Sumner that killed Jesse James Schweickert.
Court records showed Geiger submitted to a preliminary breath test after the crash that showed a result of 0.157. The legal blood-alcohol limit in Washington is 0.08.
Geiger had no prior criminal convictions, according to court records. Judge Susan Adams on Friday handed down the punishment, which was near the high end of the standard sentencing range of six-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half years in prison.
The Washington State Patrol determined Geiger was driving north on state Route 167 in a Chevrolet Blazer SUV and was taking the ramp to eastbound state Route 410, according to the probable cause document.
Geiger failed to negotiate a curve, drove into a grassy median and onto the ramp Schweickert was taking to get to southbound state Route 167, colliding with the driver’s side of his Honda Pilot. After the initial impact, a woman driving a Ford F-150 hit Geiger’s SUV, causing it to roll.
Troopers found Schweickert slumped over in his vehicle. A Port of Seattle police officer was performing CPR, but Schweickert, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Schweickert’s obituary, he worked as a wastewater-treatment plant operator with the City of Tacoma and was on his way to work when the collision occurred.
Friends and members of Schweickert’s family submitted victim-impact statements with the court ahead of Geiger’s sentencing. They described the victim as a beloved father to two children who was married to the love of his life and enjoyed spending time with his family and his dog, Josh.
“Jesse’s sudden, tragic death changed everything in our lives and I don’t know how to express the devastation and suffering of losing him,” Schweickert’s younger sister said in a handwritten letter filed in court.
In other news from Superior Court
Tacoma driver sentenced for running light at 6th Ave, killing woman in DUI crash
A 27-year-old man was sentenced Friday to seven years, one month in prison for driving drunk in Tacoma, running a red light and striking a car going through the intersection, killing its driver.
Noah Steven Cadaram pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for the April 20, 2024 collision at Sixth Avenue and South Alder Street in Central Tacoma. Brenna Gonzalez, 45 of Tacoma, died in the wreck.
Judge Stanley Rumbaugh handed down Cadaram’s punishment, giving him a mid-range sentence. Cadaram had no prior criminal convictions. After the wreck, he told Tacoma police he had been coming from the Tacoma Comedy Club and had consumed one 20-ounce beer. His blood was drawn, and toxicology results showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17, which is more than twice the legal limit.
According to court records, Tacoma Police Department detectives determined Cadaram was driving north on Alder Street in a 2010 Hyundai Elantra when he entered the Sixth Avenue intersection at high speed where he struck a 2003 Toyota Camry going west.
Documents filed by Cadaram’s attorney, Bryan Hershman, ahead of the sentencing hearing showed that Cadaram had suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2022 from being struck with a skateboard. A doctor specializing in neurology wrote in a letter that the injury can contribute to increased use of alcohol, decreased impulse control and changes in decision making.
2nd defendant sentenced for role in Tacoma woman’s retaliatory murder
A second man charged in connection to the murder of a 31-year-old Tacoma woman who was shot because her killer believed she had cooperated with a rape investigation involving his nephew has been sentenced to 17 months in prison.
Apelu Sone Tauanuu, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree rendering criminal assistance for his part in the Dec. 18, 2023 killing of Ngaire Tusi, a mother of seven who was killed at Oakland Madrona Park in South Tacoma.
The man convicted of Tusi’s murder, Muhammad Takseem Salanoa, was sentenced July 9 to 23 years in prison.
According to court records, Tauanuu, who was reportedly in the same friend group as Salanoa and Tusi, drove Tusi to the park where she was shot.
Tacoma Police Department detectives discovered text messages between Tusi and Tauanuu from when he picked her up in his black Lexus, and phone records showed him arriving at the park at 2:33 a.m., shortly before a surveillance camera picked up the sound of a gunshot.
Tusi’s mother told police that her daughter had been accused of being a “snitch” and providing information about 22-year-old James Salanoa, who was wanted for a gunpoint rape and kidnapping that occurred in late November 2023.
James Salanoa was fatally shot by Sheriff’s Office deputies on Nov. 28, 2023, following a police pursuit from Puyallup. Prosecutor Mary Robnett determined July 8 that it was a justified police shooting.
Tauanuu previously pleaded guilty Dec. 12 to first-degree murder, but he was allowed to withdraw that plea under the terms of a plea agreement, according to court records, which included the recommendation for a 17-month sentence, the high end of the standard sentencing range for similar defendants convicted of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
