He asked Tacoma car lot owner for a ride, then shot him dead. Here’s the verdict
A 41-year-old man accused of shooting and killing the owner of a used car lot outside of his business in Tacoma has been convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes.
A jury in Pierce County Superior Court on July 30 found Jerry Espana Davila guilty of fatally shooting Virgil Stebbins at the A to B Auto Lot that Stebbins owned on South Tacoma Way. According to prosecutors’ trial brief, Stebbins was in his car when he was shot in the head, and Davila drove the vehicle away from the scene. It was found later that day in Central Tacoma with Stebbins’ body inside.
Espana Davila’s defense was general denial, court records show. Surveillance video, a DNA sample and a black dog that belonged to his ex-girlfriend tied him to the crime scene.
Minutes before the shooting, Stebbins, 64, called 911 to report a man he didn’t know was in a white Chevy truck on his car lot, according to prosecutors. The man approached him and asked for a ride, and Stebbins declined. Stebbins told the 911 operator the man was walking around his car with a dog, and as the operator told him units were on the way, the only thing that could be heard on the line was groaning.
Stebbins was known as a legend in the local dirt-track racing scene, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser. He was also a father, and his murder left his daughter, Tabitha, as the only surviving member of their family.
It’s not clear what motive jurors believed led Espana Davila to kill Stebbins. They found the defendant guilty of four separate murder counts which each carried their own theory of what happened.
According to the two first-degree murder charges, the killing either happened in the course of Espana Davila robbing Stebbins, or Espana Davila had premeditated intent to murder Stebbins.
According to the two second-degree murder charges, Espana Davila either intended to kill another person but killed Stebbins, or he killed Stebbins in the course of trying to commit first- or second-degree assault.
Jurors also convicted Espana Davila of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
A sentencing hearing was set for Sept. 5. Each of Espana Davila’s murder convictions also carried firearm sentencing enhancements, which will lengthen his prison term. According to court records, the defendant had no prior felony convictions.
Surveillance video covering the A to B Auto Sales lot showed that Stebbins drove into the lot in his white 2014 Hyundai Tucson shortly before 6 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2024, according to prosecutors.
Espana Davila, who had been inside a white van parked at the lot, got out of the vehicle and walked over to Stebbins’ car, video showed. Stebbins drove to the other side of the street, and Espana Davila jogged over with a dog at his side.
Espana Davila then walked toward a Chevrolet truck and opened its driver’s door before returning to Stebbins’ Tucson. Video showed him pacing around the vehicle with his hands in his hoodie pocket. At 6:11 a.m., video showed the dog that was with him flinching. Investigators surmised in a probable cause affidavit that this is when the shooting happened.
Days later, on Feb. 22, 2024, Tacoma Police Department detectives contacted Animal Control and learned that a dog had been brought to the Humane Society of Tacoma & Pierce County after it was hit by a car on South Tacoma Way on Feb. 19.
When the owner came to pick up the dog, detectives conducted surveillance and saw the owner arrived with a male matching the description of Espana Davila, and he was wearing a jacket that matched that of the man seen on the surveillance camera. He appeared to recognize the dog, and he was arrested at the Humane Society.
Detectives also recovered the white van Espana Davila had occupied before the shooting, and according to prosecutors, a DNA sample was obtained from a sliding door that matched the defendant.
In other news out of Superior Court
Man pleads guilty to trafficking stolen Lego sets out of Puyallup pawn shop
A 56-year-old man who worked at a Puyallup pawn shop has pleaded guilty to trafficking stolen Lego sets and has agreed to testify against his codefendant who owned the store the sets were sold from.
Brian James Lauman worked at South Hill Rare Coin LLC. A codefendant who the business is registered to, Anthony Wayne Neely, has a trial on similar charges set for late August.
Lauman’s guilty plea was part of a plea agreement in which he consented to give law enforcement a full account of his wrongdoing and to testify truthfully in Neely’s case in exchange for a suspended sentence.
The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted trafficking in stolen property and second-degree trafficking in stolen property. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the latter charge and recommend the one-year suspended sentence.
According to court records, Lauman and Neely were caught after the Puyallup Police Department ensnared them in a sting operation March 30-Nov. 16, 2023.
The items trafficked were shoplifted from retail stores, particularly the South Hill Target, according to court records. Records state Lego sets were frequently stolen because they have a high value.
