A man convicted of three counts of first-degree assault for spraying bullets into an apartment at a supportive housing development in Lakewood, injuring a 3-month-old boy in a baby swing, was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Earnest Lee Hamilton was found guilty July 11 in a jury trial for the March 24, 2023 shooting at Prairie Oaks, 8956 Gravelly Lake Drive, an apartment complex operated by Living Access Support Alliance, which serves families who are chronically homeless and have disabilities.
Hamilton, 42, had been a resident there for at least a year when he used a rifle to fire more than 20 rounds into the front door and exterior wall of a neighbor's apartment, according to court records. A sitter was looking after the baby and an 18-month-old toddler inside at the time, and a bullet fragment struck the younger child while he sat in a play swing.
Lakewood Police Department officers responded at about 5:40 p.m. that day for a report of an active shooter. Officers systematically cleared the building but a gunman wasn't located inside. Surveillance video later showed that Hamilton was the last to leave the building about 10 minutes after the shooting, and he was driven away by another apartment resident. He was arrested later that night.
On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Sabrina Ahrens told Hamilton that "every day" of his lengthy sentence was justified by the impact his actions had on the community. She recalled the fear she saw on the babysitter's face in an image presented at trial and blood she saw on one of the victims.
"I can't imagine the trauma that they went through, and it's only but for, probably just, not centimeters but just a hair difference that there wasn't a casualty," Ahrens said.
Many people were evacuated and displaced as a result of the shooting, Ahrens said. She added that families living there were already in dire circumstances.
None of the victims or their relatives attended Friday's hearing. Ahrens said her understanding from the end of the trial was that the baby boy who was injured was now thriving.
The long sentence Ahrens imposed on Hamilton was due in part to the way the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged him.
Although only the 3-month old baby was injured by gunfire, Hamilton was hit with separate assault charges for all three people in the apartment and jurors convicted him of each count. Ahrens said in court that Hamilton's defense attorney had conceded that the judge didn't have the ability to determine that the victims were shot in the course of the same criminal conduct, thus requiring her to hand Hamilton three consecutive sentences for the crimes.
Ahrens sentenced Hamilton to 123 months for the assault on the 3-month old baby and 93 months each for the other two assaults. Additionally, each of the three counts carried a 60-month firearm sentencing enhancement, totaling 486 months.
Aside from the three assault charges, jurors also convicted Hamilton of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. According to court records, he had previously been convicted in 2001 of second-degree robbery in San Diego County, California. He was twice convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm in California in 2008 and 2016, and he was arrested for that same crime in Texas in 2021.
Hamilton's defense attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Travis Currie, requested that his client be sentenced to about 25 years in prison, arguing that the standard-range sentence prosecutors had recommended, 40 years, was excessive.
Currie said his client had maintained that his charges were not consistent. He asked Ahrens to look at the injuries that resulted from Hamilton's actions and the fact that this wasn't multiple actions over any significant period of time.
When it was Hamilton's turn to speak, he told the court he would like more time to study his case, and he felt like he had been let down by the system.
"There's a lot of inconsistencies, a lot of lies, things of that nature that weren't exposed during the trial," Hamilton said. "I'm just ready to be more proactive in my fight for freedom and fight for justice and my fight for liberty."
Before the judge handed down the sentence, she told Hamilton that she believed he had received a fair trial, recounting various pieces of testimony, video evidence and cross-examination of witnesses. But she said it was difficult for her to compare Hamilton's calm and obedient behavior at trial with video that displayed the damage he had caused to the apartment complex.
Ahrens said she hoped that what happened on the day of the shooting was completely outside of Hamilton's normal character.
"I hope that you use this time to do something that's really positive for you and advances you," Ahrens said.
It's unclear why Hamilton carried out the shooting. Police noted after his arrest he appeared paranoid and was thought to be having mental health issues or on drugs. He reportedly told detectives that he believed he was being watched by his neighbors and thought his life was in danger. According to the probable cause document, he said he had heard neighbors on both sides of his apartment "cocking guns."
Lakewood Police Department officers found a Wilson Combat rifle behind a couch in Hamilton's living room and a nearby ammunition magazine loaded with four .223-caliber bullets. They were consistent with shell casings found outside the victims' apartment.
Hamilton's ability to get housing at the apartment complex despite his criminal record was the subject of a lawsuit brought against Living Access Support Alliance, Spinnaker Property Management, and the Tacoma and Pierce County housing authorities.
The suit alleged that Hamilton was negligently permitted to live there and that the defendants failed to act on his history of violent behavior toward other tenants prior to the shooting. About a year prior, according to charging papers in the shooting, an apartment complex staff member saw Hamilton walking around the building carrying what appeared to be a rifle concealed in a pillowcase. The suit also alleged Hamilton had committed domestic violence against his girlfriend and threatened other tenants with a gun.
The case against Living Access Support Alliance, Spinnaker and the Tacoma Housing Authority was settled confidentially in January, and the matter against the Pierce County Housing Authority was dismissed June 7.
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