He shot a stranger seconds after encounter in Lakewood parking lot. Here’s his sentence

A 23-year-old Tacoma man who shot a stranger 13 to 15 times just seconds after they encountered each other in a Lakewood Towne Center parking lot has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Sarome Jaquan Marquis Stabler pleaded guilty last month in Pierce County Superior Court to second-degree murder in the March 9, 2023, shooting. He originally was charged from first-degree murder.

Sean Lee Gorr , 38, was killed. Prosecutors said Stabler shot the man within 10 seconds of their interaction outside a Target store. According to court records, witnesses reported seeing Stabler continue to shoot the victim after he fell to the ground.

Gorr’s older sister spoke at Stabler’s sentencing hearing, court records show. In a victim-impact statement submitted to the court file, she said she didn’t think anyone could understand the pain her brother’s murder had brought her and her family. Gorr was a father to three children. He was everyone’s protector, his sister wrote, and he had a knack for making anyone’s day better.

“He was my best friend, not just my brother,” Gorr’s sister wrote. “I’m forever broken. I don’t think I’ll ever understand it nor how to accept it.”

The sister said Stabler needed to receive the maximum sentence allowed by law, which would be life in prison.

On Friday, Judge Grant Blinn handed down the punishment, a mid-range sentence that was in line with prosecutors’ recommendation of 170 months plus a 60-month firearm sentencing enhancement. The standard sentencing range for defendants prosecuted in similar cases is 183 to 280 months. Stabler had no prior criminal history.

Stabler was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser offense as part of a plea agreement, court records show. Prosecutors asked the court to change Stabler’s charges in part because proving first-degree murder requires proving the element of premeditation. Deputy prosecuting attorney Matthew Thomas wrote in court filings that the state considered the lack of contact between Stabler and Gorr, the brief interaction that occurred before shots were fired, and Stabler’s statements to law enforcement.

The defendant was arrested in the parking lot shortly after the shooting, and he later told Lakewood Police Department detectives that Gorr, whom he’d never met before, quickly walked up to him and stared at him without speaking.

Stabler claimed the man reached into a backpack strapped on front of his chest. Stabler said he asked him what he was reaching for, but the man didn’t answer. Stabler said he asked the man a second time, but he still didn’t answer. According to the probable cause document, the defendant said he felt in fear for his safety, so he shot the man.

At arraignment, prosecutors said surveillance video from a business at the shopping center didn’t support Stabler’s version of events. Records state the video showed the two walking toward each other in the parking lot. The video had no sound, so it’s unknown what was said, but there was no physical interaction before the shooting.

Stabler is allegedly seen pulling a Glock 17 semiautomatic pistol out of his jacket, then firing at the other man as he was about 8-10 feet away.

Family and friends of Stabler submitted 17 letters of support for him prior to sentencing.

He was described as a mild-mannered and respectful man who at times struggled with his mental health. His older brother wrote that Stabler was accosted by two men while walking to a store a few days before the shooting, and the incident left him scared. Stabler’s brother said that might have been where his brother’s fear of being approached by mysterious people came from.

Stabler’s aunt wrote to the court that the situation was unfortunate, and her heart went out to both her nephew and the family of the victim. Stabler was a bright young man, she said, not a threat to the community.