Alexander Shaw, inset, was shot to death while on a date overlooking the Puget Sound in Washington State with a 22-year-old woman in November 2022. The woman’s ex-boyfriend, Emilio John (not pictured), was sentenced to 23 years in prison. (Shaw: Obituary. Puget Sound: Google Maps)
A jealous ex-boyfriend will spend the next two decades behind bars for critically injuring his ex-girlfriend and killing her date her after opening fire at a car with them inside while they were on their first date overlooking the Puget Sound in Washington state.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Garold Johnson sentenced Emilio Anthony Joseph John on Friday to 23 years in prison, court records say. John, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree assault for the death of 19-year-old Alexander Shaw and injury to his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend.
“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare, and that nightmare came true for me,” Cheryl Alatorre Bautista told the court during sentencing, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.
Shaw’s family discovered his lifeless body in a Kia Forte located in the 1900 block of Commercial Street in Steilacoom on Nov. 6, 2022. They had tracked his phone to the location and saw him suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the abdomen, chest and neck, a probable cause statement obtained by Law&Crime stated. It appeared he had been dead for several hours. Officers also found multiple 9 mm and 10 mm casings, broken glass and a bullet hole on the passenger side.
Noticing a purse in the passenger seat, detectives began searching for gunshot victims at hospitals. They learned a woman had indeed been dropped off at Tacoma General hospital where doctors had admitted her into the ICU with four gunshot wounds to her left shoulder and chest. The woman owned the Kia.
Cops also recovered an Apple AirTag that can be used to track locations about 40 feet from the car. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. which is around the time the woman was dropped off at the hospital.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the hospital which showed her being dropped off at the emergency room by a man — later identified as John — in a Dodge Charger. He grabbed a wheelchair and pushed her inside before running back to his car and driving away, the affidavit said.
The female victim was intubated but answered questions from detectives by nodding her head and writing on a piece of paper. She said she had recently met Shaw online and the two arranged a date together in her car. Shaw drove to an area he knew had good views of the Puget Sound. She said a man in the mask walked up to their car and opened up fire, according to the affidavit. Asked if she knew who shot her, she said she wasn’t sure but that John had taken her to the hospital.
Her uncle told detectives she and John had been dating and had a child together. He said she told him that she and John were fighting because he was looking through her phone and saw that she was talking to another man. John had previously threatened her with a gun, the affidavit said.
A review of John’s cellphone records said he was in the area at the time of the shooting and showed he had driven to the hospital afterward.
Police arrested John two days after the shooting. He initially told detectives that he had nothing to do with it and said he was with friends when it happened. He and his ex were already dating other people, he told investigators. When detectives confronted him with the video showing he had dropped her off at the hospital, he said “I plead the Fifth” and requested an attorney.
Cops serving a search warrant at John’s home recovered 9 mm and 10 mm handguns and ammunition which is the same ammunition used in the shooting.
Shaw’s obituary said he lived an “energized life” and enjoyed camping, kayaking and hiking scenic routes. His sister spoke to John during the hearing.
“Did you listen to what he had to say before you pulled the trigger?” his sister asked John, according to the News Tribune. “Were you able to see the fear in his eyes before he left the Earth?”
In a sentencing memorandum obtained by Law&Crime, John told a psychologist he was affected by the September 2022 death of his great-grandmother who had raised him instead of his drug-addicted parents and grandmother. He had been drinking more leading up to the homicide and became “more aggressive.” He also started taking pills.
John apologized to Shaw’s family during the sentencing hearing.
“I’m doing a lot of time for my actions,” John said, according to the News Tribune. “And I know I can’t make it right. But I’m just trying to do the best I can really.”
Prosecutors came to plea agreement with John based on his youth and lack of a prior criminal record. But there’s no excuse for John’s actions, Johnson said.
“Whatever is wrong with you, however it got here, I don’t know,” Johnson said, the News Tribune reported. “The bottom line is you are a threat to the community. There is no doubt in my mind that you are.”
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