A 23-year-old man convicted of drive-by shooting and first-degree assault for bringing a gunman to and from an Eastside Tacoma home where a man was shot in the head in a spray of gunfire was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison.
Jeremy James Orla Vanzant-Volpe was convicted in a jury trial in the March 25, 2023 injury shooting of Treyvon Clark. According to prosecutors, the shooter, Alexander Semaj Isaiah Carson, directed Vanzant-Volpe to follow Clark after spotting him at a smoke shop on Portland Avenue.
Outside Clark's residence on South Bell Street, Carson stuck his hand out the window of the Kia Sportage that Vanzant-Volpe was driving and used a handgun modified for automatic fire to shoot 19 bullets at Clark while he walked to his front door, according to court records. Clark, then 22, was struck in the forehead.
On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Susan B. Adams sentenced Vanzant-Volpe to 12 years, 9 months in prison for his role in the shooting.
Police zeroed in on Vanzant-Volpe as the driver using a video that captured the shooting and images from a surveillance camera that showed its license plate, according to charging documents. Vanzant-Volpe was arrested three days after the shooting when police stopped the Kia in Des Moines. Carson was arrested July 3, 2023 following a police pursuit that led onto Interstate 5. Carson allegedly reached speeds of 130 mph before he crashed while trying to take an exit in King County.
At trial, Carson, 23, was convicted of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, drive-by shooting, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.
Vanzant-Volpe, who testified at trial, was acquitted of attempted murder but was convicted of drive-by shooting and assault.
Clark spent 17 days on life support, his mother said at Carson's sentencing hearing June 14, when the gunman was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Clark survived the shooting, but his arm was paralyzed, and he suffered a brain infection. Prosecutors said the incident had an enormous impact on the victim's mobility and his ability to care for himself and his young son.
"This near-death experience and the enormous impact of the crime on the victim's life justifies a high-end sentence," deputy prosecuting attorney Sunni Ko wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Ko recommended that Superior Court Judge Susan B. Adams sentence Vanzant-Volpe to 15 years in prison, five years of which stemmed from a firearm sentencing enhancement.
She argued in court filings that the defense had not shown that Vanzant-Volpe's youth had hurt his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions. She said the defendant's own statements to investigators contradicted defense claims that he was "afraid" of Carson, and despite growing up with supportive family members, he chose to befriend Carson and chose Carson's "lifestyle."
At Carson's sentencing hearing, Ko told the court the shooting was retaliation for a robbery the week before at a rap studio that involved two different sets of gangs. But testimony about Carson's gang ties was excluded from trial.
Vanzant-Volpe has no prior criminal history. He was born in Federal Way, grew up in Pierce County and graduated from Mount Tahoma High School in 2019. According to a psychological evaluation included in the defense's sentencing memorandum, he was never associated with gangs, but Vanzant-Volpe reported that he knew Carson was involved with them.
"I never cared about that," Vanzant-Volpe reportedly told a psychologist. "I don't judge people and just tell them not to put me in your situation."
His attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Sarah Tofflemire, requested an eight-year prison sentence, arguing that it was justified by Vanzant-Volpe's age, lack of successful familial support and general immaturity at the time of the offense.
A private investigator who prepared a report on Vanzant-Volpe's background concluded that there were no indications in his personal history that he would become involved in criminal activity, but that he lacked self-regulation and foresight. He reportedly told the investigator he had no awareness of Carson's intentions.
"I didn't want any of this to happen," Vanzant-Volpe said, according to the investigator. "I should have just taken him home instead of anywhere else. I should have done more to stop it."
Prosecutors maintained that Vanzant-Volpe knew what could or would happen the minute Carson recognized Clark at the smoke shop and handed him a balaclava to put over his face. Ko wrote that the defendant could have stopped the car, demanded Carson get out or get out himself. Instead, he drove Carson to the victim's home, and after the shooting, he scraped stickers off his car that would connect the vehicle to the crime.
"When it came time to assist Carson in carrying out his crime, Defendant did not hesitate," Ko wrote. "Later when he was caught, he lied to police and did everything he could to not name his buddy in crime."
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