Victim shot and paralyzed in Thurston Co. heist, prosecutors say. Teen sentenced
A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for his role in a Yelm shooting that injured two people last year.
The shooting occurred after sunset on Feb. 6, 2025, in the parking lot of a clinic near the intersection of Cullens Street Northwest and West Yelm Avenue, The Olympian previously reported.
Tomas Ramirez-Kerrigan was one of three people charged in connection with the shooting. On June 1, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Allyson Zipp sentenced him to five years and 10 months in prison for one count of first-degree attempted robbery and three counts of second-degree assault. Investigators initially described the incident as a drive-by shooting involving three victims, two of whom were injured, but it was later determined the shooting stemmed from a botched firearm robbery.
“I’m sorry for everything that my actions have caused for the victims and their families,” Ramirez-Kerrigan said through tears. “I know what I did was wrong, and I plan to do everything I can in my situation to better my life, to make sure when I get out, this doesn’t happen again.”
Ramirez-Kerrigan pleaded guilty to the charges the same day as part of a plea deal. He was previously charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder while armed with a firearm and three counts of drive-by shooting.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Wayne Graham said he believed the plea deal was an appropriate resolution given the facts of the case and Ramirez-Kerrigan’s young age. He asked Zipp to sentence Ramirez-Kerrigan to a total of 76.5 months in prison, the high end of his standard range, followed by 18 months of community custody.
“I have no reason to doubt right now, judge, with the information that I have, that this was a robbery gone bad,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Wayne Graham said. “I don’t believe Mr. Ramirez-Kerrigan intended to seriously injure (one of the victims), but that’s what happened, and he’s taking responsibility for that today, your honor.”
Public defense attorney Kevin Griffin represented Ramirez-Kerrigan. Griffin said his client turned 18 and then 19 in the maximum security area of the county jail. Despite the circumstances, Griffin said he has been impressed by his patience and understanding.
“Our position is that this was a very immature, short-sighted decision to try and take a firearm from someone, really to try and steal it or to try and commit a robbery,” Griffin said. “Things just went awful. It couldn’t have gone worse. He’s very lucky people didn’t die.”
In a statement to the court, Griffin clarified what happened on Feb. 6. He said one of the victims offered to sell a firearm to Ramirez-Kerrigan at the Yelm parking lot.
Ramirez-Kerrigan arrived at the parking lot with two other people: Buc Quan Mills, now 19, and Jason Booze, now 21. Both have pleaded guilty in connection to the incident, but have not yet been sentenced, court records show.
At the parking lot, Ramirez-Kerrigan approached a car with the three victims. He did not have money for the transaction, Griffin said, so he attempted to take the firearm without paying for it. A struggle ensued, and the firearm discharged, striking one of the victims.
After the shot was fired, the driver of the victims’ car accelerated away. Booze then shot at the vehicle with a rifle multiple times, striking the occupants, according to the statement.
The victim who was initially shot is now paralyzed from the waist down, Graham told the court.
Graham largely agreed with Griffin’s summary of what happened, but contended there were funds to complete the purchase. Griffin maintained his client did not have money.
In court, Griffin asked Zipp to sentence his client to just under five years in prison, which was the lower end of his standard range.
“That’s a sentence that promotes justice, benefits the community and gives Mr. Ramirez-Kerrigan the opportunity to improve his situation,” Griffin said.
When addressing the court, Ramirez-Kerrigan said he went through the foster care system, ran away from home at 16, and moved in with his grandmother at 17. He said he’s learned to appreciate his family’s support over the past 16 months in jail.
“I ain’t a bad person, and I don’t want to be a bad person, but I made a bad decision, and I have to take responsibility and live with it,” Ramirez-Kerrigan said.
Zipp said it sounds like Ramirez-Kerrigan learned a difficult lesson, and that he has the capacity to be a force for good in the future.
“Always think before you act,” Zipp said. “That will help you a lot going forward to be the good person that I just heard you tell me that from now on, going forward, you want to be.”
Zipp ultimately sentenced him to 70 months in prison for the robbery charge and 43 concurrent months for each of three assault charges.
“This is not the top end of the sentence, but it’s not the bottom end of the sentence either, Mr. Ramirez-Kerrigan,” Zipp said. “That 70 months is reflective of the very significant nature of your actions, the impact that it had on others and the appropriate weight that the court is putting on you accepting the consequences of that.”
Zipp also barred Ramirez-Kerrigan from contacting the three victims in the case, a condition that both parties accepted as part of the plea deal.
Co-defendant Mills pleaded guilty on April 9 to first-degree robbery and third-degree assault, according to court records. He was expected to be sentenced on June 2, but the hearing was cancelled due to his attorney’s unavailability. It’s unclear when the hearing will be rescheduled.
Booze pleaded guilty to first-degree assault on April 6, court records show. It’s unclear when he will be sentenced.
