Eleven months after Aaron Sullivan was killed in Leschi, Tristan Appleberry plead guilty to the crime in court today.
Eye-witnesses had said that the 20-year-old Appleberry came out of his house armed with an assault rifle, and fired it into the back of the car Sullivan was sitting in. The crime reportedly grew out of a dispute over a girl between friends of the victim and suspect.
According to the county prosecutor’s office, they will be asking for a prison sentence of 20 years, about the middle of the standard sentencing range of 15 to 24 years for second degree murder. The sentencing hearing will be held on August 6th at 1:45pm.
When we spoke to prosecutors earlier in the month, they had said that they would consider negotiating on jail time, which appears to have been what happened today.
I still get shocked when I see people literally getting away with murder. I know there is legal bargaining and deals made, but he murdered someone at point blank range. He will walk before the time he is 35. I always shake my head at this, he deserves the death penalty, he even admitted to murder. That is why our society is crumbling, there is no severe punishment for even killing someone anymore.
RCW 9A.32.030 – Murder in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when:
(a) With a premeditated intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or (b) Under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life, he or she engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to any person, and thereby causes the death of a person; or(c) He or she commits or attempts to commit the crime of either (1) robbery in the first or second degree, (2) rape in the first or second degree, (3) burglary in the first degree, (4) arson in the first or second degree, or (5) kidnapping in the first or second degree, and in the course of or in furtherance of such crime or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants: Except that in any prosecution under this subdivision (1)(c) in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, if established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, it is a defense that the defendant:
(i) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause, or aid the commission thereof; and
(ii) Was not armed with a deadly weapon, or any instrument, article, or substance readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury; and
(iii) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant was armed with such a weapon, instrument, article, or substance; and
(iv) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious physical injury.
(2) Murder in the first degree is a class A felony.
RCW 9A.32.050 – Murder in the second degree.
(1) A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when:
(a) With intent to cause the death of another person but without premeditation, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or b) He or she commits or attempts to commit any felony, including assault, other than those enumerated in RCW 9A.32.030(1)(c), and, in the course of and in furtherance of such crime or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants; except that in any prosecution under this subdivision (1)(b) in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, if established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, it is a defense that the defendant:
(i) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause, or aid the commission thereof; and
(ii) Was not armed with a deadly weapon, or any instrument, article, or substance readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury; and
(iii) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant was armed with such a weapon, instrument, article, or substance; and
(iv) Had no reasonable grounds to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious physical injury.
(2) Murder in the second degree is a class A felony.
sad here but whatever the circumstances, one can but wonder what the charges or the community response would have been had the roles of the two men been reversed, if the victim had murdered the attacked in this case. I would not easily wonder these questions out loud, as I would want to be careful not to be needlessly provoking anger. Nothing can bring Aaron back.
Thank you for saying that Joanna. It really angers me that Tristan was not charged with 1st degree murder. It is my opinion that in RCW 9A.32.030,murder in the first degree, 1(a) and 1(b) are both applicable to what Tristan did. People on this site are gonna say what they do, but I wonder the exact same thing. Except I knew Aaron and his family personally and it’s hard to even imagine him in a reverse scenario. But I know what you mean. If Tristan had been killed in the same manner I think we would be seeing a 1st degree murder charge. And you are right that nothing can bring Aaron back.
yes, the imagining was just based on race, not a comment on character of victim. I didn’t know Aaron, but others have also commented to me that based on who Aaron was that the reverse would not happen.
the race one is always fun to play. Still shocking that a human got away with murder.
upd you are correct. It is shocking. I was surprised by the response in the media and community in general from the very beginning and remain puzzled. Maybe if murder isn’t gang related it isn’t sensational.
I think if more people knew Aaron and knew his family they would be more outraged. For many people it was just two teenagers in the neighborhood. Just looking at the recent thread about the gun shots in Barnett Park will show there are many people close to us who don’t really care about the lives of teenagers.
I don’t think it’s ever fun to apply a race based analysis on a situation of injustice but it is entirely appropriate to do so.