Tacoma man sentenced for murdering woman who stole his drugs while he was jailed
A 41-year-old man was sentenced to 34 years in prison Friday for fatally shooting a woman who stole a backpack of drugs from his Tacoma-area home while he sat in jail on DUI and gun charges.
Prosecutors said the victim worked as a prostitute, and according to court documents, someone who bought drugs from the defendant set up a date with her to obtain an address where the defendant attacked her.
Larie Edward Moorer pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder for the killing of 35-year-old Leslie Crossley on Jan. 22, 2024 in Lakewood. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for firing 13 rounds at the vehicle Crossley was getting into, which was occupied by a woman and her toddler daughter. Charging documents say the woman’s ribcage was grazed by a bullet, and the girl narrowly avoided being struck by a bullet.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Shelly Moss sentenced Moorer, giving him a punishment near the middle of the standard sentencing range of about 29 to 38 years including a five-year firearm sentencing enhancement.
Moorer had 11 prior felony convictions, court records show, including for third-degree assault, theft, possessing stolen property and taking a motor vehicle without permission, among other offenses.
Prosecutors originally charged Moorer with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Deputy prosecuting attorney Richard Weyrich wrote in a court filing that the state wanted to amend the charges as part of plea negotiations and after considering the facts indicated in police reports.
“While the State is confident that the defendant would be found guilty of the original charges at trial, this amendment takes into account specific litigation risks that the State would face including that the State’s case relied upon circumstantial evidence and there were no witnesses that would identify the defendant as the shooter,” Weyrich wrote.
In a victim-impact statement filed with the court, one of Crossley’s sisters said her sibling struggled with many things in life, but that at her core she was kind, compassionate and fierce.
“I know that her actions did not help her circumstances at all,” the sister wrote. “But I also know that those things do not make it right for her to have been murdered.”
Moorer was arrested a little more than a week before the murder when a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped him for poor driving, according to prosecutors’ trial brief. The trooper arrested Moorer for DUI and found some bags of pills and cocaine in his vehicle, a digital scale and a pistol he wasn’t allowed to have.
While Moorer was in jail for the weekend, a Ring camera at his Parkland home captured Crossley arriving at his door at 10 p.m. on Jan. 14, according to the trial brief. Prosecutors said she stole a backpack of drugs, and a witness later estimated it contained 1,500-2,000 “blue pills,” 500 Xanax pills and a fourth-pound of cocaine.
Moorer bailed out of jail Jan. 17, 2024 on a $25,000 bond, court records show. Five days later, prosecutors said, he met up with two people in Spanaway to sell fentanyl. Prosecutors said he explained to them that he’d recently been robbed, and he asked one to contact Crossley to get her address.
That person set up a date with Crossley, according to prosecutors. They agreed to pick Crossley up and take her to the former Hotel Thea on South Hosmer Street.
Moorer received Crossley’s address, and prosecutors said cell phone location records showed he began to travel in that direction. Meanwhile, Crossley was in communication with a woman who agreed to take her to the hotel in her SUV. Her young daughter was in the backseat.
Moorer arrived in the area shortly after 6:40 p.m. and got out of the passenger seat of a vehicle about a block from Crossley’s apartment. Prosecutors said investigators conducted “extensive” video canvassing, and multiple surveillance videos showed Moorer’s vehicle.
Prosecutors said Moorer walked toward Crossley’s residence, and as she emerged and then got in the SUV, Moorer ran toward her and opened fire. Moorer then ran back to the vehicle he arrived in, which drove off.
The SUV that Crossley was in sped to a nearby parking lot, where the driver called 911. Lakewood police arrived and found Crossley slumped in the front seat with a gunshot wound to her head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
In other news out of Superior Court
Man sentenced for murder of roommate in Bonney Lake, shooting 1 other
A 23-year-old man who killed his roommate and wounded another man visiting their home in Bonney Lake when the defendant opened fire on them after a day of drinking was sentenced Friday to 16-and-a-half years in prison.
Jacob Michael Sottile pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and third-degree assault for the June 8, 2024 incident. Spencer Emerson, 23, was killed, and another man who was 24 at the time was shot in the legs multiple times.
Judge Clarence Henderson Jr. imposed Sottile’s punishment, giving him a sentence near the middle of the standard sentencing range of about 11 to 19 years in prison. Records state he had no prior criminal convictions.
Prosecutors originally charged Sottile with two counts of second-degree murder under different theories of the crime and first-degree assault. In a court filing about amending the charges, deputy prosecuting attorney Thomas Howe said it was a negotiated resolution that was an effort to balance conflicting interests.
“It appears to be a disagreement between housemates that was fueled by drugs and alcohol,” Howe wrote.
Sottile and Emerson were renting rooms in the house at the time, and charging documents said they and Emerson’s friend spent all day drinking.
Emerson and his friend were about to leave the house when they found Sottile lying in bed with the homeowner’s handgun, records state. Sottile had apparently taken one of the homeowner’s guns before. The owner later told investigators that about a year earlier Sottile was pulled over for speeding and had his gun with him.
Emerson took the gun from Sottile and asked him why he had it, the friend later told detectives. Sottile then grabbed another gun from under a blanket and started shooting.
The 24-year-old man escaped through a window. A neighbor reported hearing gunshots, and a 911 caller reported seeing the injured man bloodied and walking down the road a few blocks from the house.
Sottile also called 911, and according to court records he said he had shot and killed his roommate. He claimed his roommate pulled a gun on him, and he was hiding in his bedroom. The 24-year-old man later told detectives he didn’t see Emerson point the gun at Sottile.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived, and Sottile eventually exited the house at their command. He was later treated for an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to his foot. A deputy allegedly heard him state, “Tell [the homeowner] that I am sorry. I’m a drunk.”
Emerson was found unresponsive in Sottile’s room. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Charging documents state an autopsy found he was shot at least four times.
