A man was sentenced last week to eight and a half years in prison for fatally shooting a 25-year-old man outside a Tacoma apartment complex in 2023.
Timothy Terrell Williams, 33, was involved in a fight in the city’s Hilltop neighborhood on April 22, 2023, but it was not his opponent who died. Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Sirrone Mansel Arthur Newbern, a bystander who, along with his girlfriend, was riding with the other fighter who had driven them to the apartment.
According to court records, Pierce County Judge Jennifer Andrews sentenced Williams to 102 months in prison. That was on the low end of the standard sentence for defendants charged in similar cases, and the sentence included a 24-month sentence enhancement for deadly weapon possession.
Williams was originally charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and other offenses in the shooting, but the charges were amended as part of a plea agreement, court records show. Deputy District Attorney Kara Sanchez wrote in the court documents that the state’s two eyewitnesses, including the man who fought Williams, gave conflicting accounts of what happened.
Prosecutors argued that it would be difficult to prove the original charges beyond a reasonable doubt, particularly when the defendant claimed he was defending himself, Sanchez wrote. The witnesses also expressed fear for their safety and a strong desire not to testify at trial.
Mary K. High, Williams’ attorney for the Department of Assigned Counsel, wrote in her sentencing memorandum that lay witnesses were extremely reluctant to testify for either side for fear of gang reprisals. According to court records, the victim and the man who fought Williams belonged to the same gang, but Williams had no gang affiliation.
Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that there was “absolutely no evidence” the incident was gang-related.
It’s unclear what the argument was about. Newbern’s girlfriend reportedly told investigators that she heard Williams and the man he was arguing with on the phone earlier that night arguing about a 17-year-old girl who had been “stolen” from Williams. She then heard them agree to fight before they drove to the apartment complex.
The man involved in the fight initially refused to speak to investigators, according to court records. He was arrested on a witness warrant on Jan. 17, and in an interview with investigators, he said he had gone to the apartment complex to buy marijuana from someone who lived there, not the suspect. He admitted to having a phone conversation with Williams that night in which the suspect said something along the lines of, “I’m going to kick your ass [expletive]but he said he didn’t take Williams seriously.
The two witnesses gave investigators similar descriptions of how the fight began and ended. According to prosecutors, both said that after they arrived at the apartment complex, Williams asked Newbern and the other man if they were there to attack him. The other man said no, and that’s when Williams threw the first punch. Both witnesses said that Newbern never intervened.
Newbern’s girlfriend also told detectives that Newbern and the man who fought with Williams did not have guns.
The girlfriend told police that Williams initially had the upper hand in the fistfight, and that Newbern stood nearby and essentially narrated what was happening. The other man then started to gain the upper hand and pulled Williams’ hair. Williams then pulled out a gun and started shooting.
The man involved in the fight told detectives that he pulled Williams’ hair and bit him on the shoulder after holding him with the suspect’s back against his chest. Williams then broke free, pulled out a gun and shot him twice, but missed. He then turned his sights on Newbern and shot him twice.
Tacoma Police officers responded to the shooting at approximately 10:48 p.m. after receiving multiple reports of gunfire at 1801 S. 15th St., including a 911 call from Williams, who reportedly said he had just shot someone.
Williams was arrested at the scene without incident. Newbern was found lying on the ground between two apartment buildings in the complex. Officers performed CPR on him until firefighters arrived and pronounced him dead.
The gun Williams used in the shooting was found at the scene, along with three 9mm bullet casings that a Washington State Patrol forensics lab determined were fired from the gun, the documents state. Detectives also obtained two videos that captured audio of the shooting, but not the incident itself.
While being arrested, Williams allegedly told officers that “they tried to assault me and I defended myself,” according to prosecutors’ court filings.
Williams’ attorney, High, noted in a sentencing memorandum that the victim and the defendant had been drinking on the day of the shooting. She wrote that Williams allegedly said before the fight that he was afraid of being attacked but that he would agree to a one-on-one fight.
Newbern, who was standing an arm’s length from the other man, allegedly lifted his shirt during the struggle and said, “What’s up?” while laughing, High wrote. She said Williams tragically misinterpreted the move and fired his gun, killing Newbern.
“Mr. Williams is a young father and is devastated that his actions have robbed Mr. Newbern’s young child of his father,” High wrote. “The primary motivating factor in Mr. Williams’ decision to resolve this case with a guilty verdict was his son. He simply could not risk an adverse jury verdict.”
