A woman found guilty of murder, 13 counts of arson, identity theft and other felonies for setting a series of fires at homes in Tacoma, one of which killed an 83-year-old man, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 80 years in prison.
During Sarah Jane Ramey's sentencing hearing in Pierce County Superior Court, Judge Angelica Williams told the defendant she had undertaken a dangerous campaign of arson between Dec. 31, 2021 and Jan. 26, 2022, primarily in Tacoma's North End.
Williams said Ramey's actions were shocking in their "callousness and utter contempt for human life," and she said the woman must account for it. The judge handed her an exceptional sentence of 980 months, beyond her standard sentencing range of about 34 to 45 years in prison.
"Every time you lit a structure on fire, you knew that your actions could have the potential to kill folks," Williams said before imposing the sentence. "You didn't know necessarily who was inside ... But what is abundantly clear is that it seemed not to matter to you."
Nine of the 13 fires Ramey was convicted of setting were at occupied homes, according to prosecutors, totaling at least 26 victims. The worst of them occurred on New Year's Eve 2022 at 2 Rosemount Way, a 3,311-square-foot home built in 1909 where James Elliott died of smoke inhalation.
Elliott was awake when the fire began, Williams said. The court heard testimony from a neighbor who saw a light go on inside, according to the judge, and more neighbors told jurors about their desperate attempts to open a door to the home near a bathroom where Elliott was found dead.
Ramey's Google searches in the following days show she knew that Elliott had died, Williams said. According to court records, she read articles from KOMO News and The News Tribune reporting on the fatal fire, which was initially thought to have been caused by a malfunctioning electrical wire. Further investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined it was set intentionally.
Ramey then returned to 2 Rosemount Way multiple times to steal from it. Williams said Ramey passed bad checks in the Elliotts' name and stole thousands of dollars by purchasing merchandise at Lowe's. According to court records, about $4,065 was spent there with the stolen credit card of Elliott's late wife, including purchases for a portable generator, a backpack leaf-blower, a shop vac and a carpet cleaner.
"And despite knowing that your actions killed somebody, you then embarked on what can only be objectively described as a dangerous campaign of arson," Williams said. "Fourteen additional fires resulting in 12 convictions for arson in the first degree and two convictions for attempted arson in the first degree."
Beyond her convictions for murder, arson and attempted arson, Ramey, 45, was found guilty July 3 of two counts of attempted first-degree arson, two counts of first-degree identity theft, second-degree identity theft, second-degree burglary, residential burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.
Jurors acquitted Ramey of three arsons that occurred in Central Tacoma the evening before she set fire to 2 Rosemount Way. The trial stretched over three months and included testimony from more than 120 witnesses.
Earlier in Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Williams denied a motion from the defense to dismiss the aggravating circumstances found in the case. The jury panel of six men and six women found that 11 of the arsons or attempted arsons Ramey was convicted of involved multiple victims, and in three of the arsons Ramey attempted to or caused monetary loss that was substantially greater than is typical for first-degree arson.
Those aggravators allowed prosecutors to argue for an exceptional sentence beyond the standard range. Deputy prosecuting attorney Claire Vitikainen requested an even lengthier sentence than Williams imposed, about 117 years, arguing that Ramey's high offender score would result in her going unpunished for any of the fires she set Jan. 19-26, 2022 because she ordinarily would be required to serve those sentences at the same time.
Instead, Vitikainen suggested that Ramey should serve consecutive sentences for Elliott's murder and 8 arsons. In her sentencing memorandum, the attorney said it was only "sheer luck" that the 25 other victims didn't die as Elliott did.
"Someone noticed the fire and called attention to it, or the fire burned out on its own," Vitikainen wrote in her sentencing recommendation. "The defendant targeted these homes in the hours of the night when individuals were most likely to be home."
Ramey's defense attorney, Mary K. High, asked the court to impose a standard range sentence, stating that even that would be a de facto life sentence. She said even at the low end of the range, Ramey would be about 79 years old if she served her entire sentence, which High said exceeds the life expectancy of an individual in the Department of Corrections.
High's recommendation was heard after multiple victims in the case spoke, some of whom called Ramey a "monster" for her actions. One person said the defendant should get the death penalty, which is not an option in Washington.
The defense attorney said it was hard to stand there and listen to someone she knows and has worked hard to represent called "evil" and a "monster." She said information about Ramey's background in court records, from the jail and mental health records permits some compassion.
"The impact on their lives may lead them to have that view. But to hear individuals say I'd throw the stone, I'd like to see the death penalty, is hard," High said.
Ramey has a history of childhood trauma and abuse, according to High's sentencing memorandum, and the attorney said this predictably led to a path marred by drug use, mental health issues, low esteem and abusive relationships.
A relationship she had with a man for 10 years, Dereck Dombrock, ended tragically in August 2021 when Dombrock died of a heart attack while working on a job site. According to High's sentencing memo, Ramey immediately returned to heroin use and was associating with others who used drugs, and, at the time of the fires she was convicted of setting, the woman was not in counseling or taking her medications.
High wrote in court records that Ramey's history of mental health diagnoses extends well over a decade, and she's currently being treated for bipolar disorder, anxiety, major depressive disorder and PTSD.
Ramey did not address the court when given the opportunity to speak. High said she'd advised her client not to speak due to "the nature of the appeal."
Ultimately, Williams ordered Ramey to serve consecutive sentences of 548 months for first-degree murder in Elliott's death, 144 months for first-degree arson in the Jan. 23, 2022 fire at 5226 N. Highland St., 144 months for first-degree arson in the Jan. 23, 2022 fire at 427 S. 54th St and 144 months for first-degree arson in the Jan. 26, 2022 fire at 4636 N. Gove St.
Williams imposed high end sentences on the remaining counts and ordered that they be served concurrently.
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