Thurston Co. judge sentences man in connection to 16-year-old’s fatal overdose
A Thurston County judge sentenced an Olympia man to nearly three years in prison Wednesday in connection with the fatal overdose of a teen.
Superior Court Judge Christopher Lanese delivered the sentence for Son Thien Nguyen, 34, in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia.
“That is real time, but no time is going to bring back the victim in this case,” Lanese said. “No time is going to fill that void that’s going to persist in the hearts of the parents, the family and the community for the rest of everyone’s lives.”
Law enforcement accused Nguyen of selling Avery Ping, 16, a mixture of fentanyl, amphetamine and methamphetamine outside his family home on Dec. 19, 2024, The Olympian previously reported. The teen ingested the mixture, believing it was ecstasy, and later died at an area hospital. Witnesses told detectives Nguyen sold drugs to Olympia High School students under the pseudonym “Travis,” and communicated with them over social media, typically Snapchat, according to court records.
On Jan. 6, 2024, detectives searched Nguyen’s home, which is less than a mile north of North Thurston High School, and recovered a large trove of drugs and firearms, according to court records.
Nguyen appeared in court Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to two crimes: second-degree manslaughter and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, ecstasy.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office previously charged Nguyen with controlled substance homicide while armed with a firearm and other related drug and firearm charges.
Nguyen accepted a plea deal to avoid facing the previous charges at a jury trial.
Lanese sentenced Nguyen to two years and 10 months in prison and one year and six months of community custody for the second-degree manslaughter conviction.
For the unlawful delivery of a controlled substance conviction, Lanese ordered him to concurrently serve one year and eight months in prison and one year of community custody.
Both sentences are on the higher end of his standard range, according to court documents.
“I’m imposing that maximum, the top of the range, the (34) months at this point,” Lanese said.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Brendan Rochford recommended the court sentence Nguyen to a total of 34 months in prison in accordance with the plea deal.
Nguyen addressed the court before Lanese delivered the sentence.
“First of all, I want to apologize for all the pain and suffering I caused to everybody that’s involved in this situation,” Nguyen said. “It was uncalled for, and I will take full responsibility for all my actions.”
Defense attorney Stephen Trinen represented Nguyen. Trinen said his client wished to take responsibility but wanted the process to properly reflect “what the law allowed.”
“He understands the suffering, even if it’s not his suffering,” Trinen said. “He understands that he had his own challenges he was dealing with, and he made flawed choices, and those led to a tremendously tragic outcome that he profoundly regrets.”
Ping’s mother address the court
Prism Dawn McCabe spoke at the podium during the hearing. She described her son Avery Ping as a child with a “gentle heart” who supported his peers and struggled with bullying.
“It’s my belief that returning home for Christmas brought back too many painful and unresolved feelings about the bullying that he had left behind,” she said. “Son Nguyen was there to capitalize on that pain and instill in Avery a false sense of security. Avery had been home for less than 24 hours before he was dead.”
Ping attended Olympia High School during the 2023-2024 school year, but he was not a current student at the time of his death.
He spent his last four months living with his paternal grandparents in rural New York where he attended Hawthorn Valley Waldorf School. He returned to his family in Olympia during the 2024 winter break.
His mother and stepfather, Devon McCabe, own Soul Café, a downtown Olympia eatery next to Heritage Park.
“My surviving son, along with this teen community, have expressed to me that there remains no shortage of opportunities for them to buy drugs,” Dawn McCabe said. “Taking Son (Nguyen) off the streets does not remove that threat from them. However, raising the stakes for these dealers is our best chance for real change.”
Ping’s family criticizes criminal legal system
Dawn McCabe called the recommended sentence “unconscionably low.” She asked the court to order the maximum sentence for both counts and have them run one after the other.
However, Lanese said he could not legally do that.
“If I had that authority, I would consider exercising that authority,” Lanese said. “The findings that I would need to make to justify and support that kind of sentence I’m unable to do on this record.”
Lanese said that outcome was by design.
“When people have good lawyers and they have plea agreements, they tee things up in such a way, when the facts especially are difficult, that the agreement is the maximum of what the judge can impose,” Lanese said.
Aaron Ping, Avery Ping’s biological father, refused to attend the sentencing hearing in protest, he told The Olympian.
Instead, Dawn McCabe read aloud a statement from Aaron Ping.
“My son is dead,” part of the statement said. “Other families in this community will not receive from this case the warning I wish I had before my son’s death. That is the source of my grief. That is what I carry.”
Lanese asked speakers to be mindful of the time because the Wednesday hearing was part of a larger calendar with many other hearings. As a result, Devon McCabe did not get a chance to speak.
After the hearing concluded, he said he felt frustrated by institutions and systems that are failing to protect children.
“I don’t understand why this is happening,” McCabe said. “I want somebody that has more resources to do something about it.”
Dawn McCabe said she did not feel satisfied with the outcome of the hearing.
“I don’t accept this,” Dawn McCabe said. “This is not where it ends for us.”
Looking forward, Dawn McCabe said she wants to raise the public’s awareness about the availability of illicit drugs in the community. She also said she wants people to be further disincentivized from dealing drugs, especially to children.
“I’m really hoping we can get there and that the community can play a larger role in what that looks like,” Dawn McCabe said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misstated Nguyen’s sentence. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christopher Lanese sentenced Nguyen to two years and 10 months in prison. This article has also been updated with additional details from the sentencing hearing and comments from the victim’s family.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 1:32 PM.
