Wash. 19-Year-Old Who Was Overlooking Puget Sound on 1st Date with Woman Was Fatally Shot by Her Ex
Emilio Anthony Joseph John, 23, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder in connection with the death of 19-year-old Alexander Shaw
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A Washington State man was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the murder of a teen who was on a first date with the man’s ex-girlfriend.
Emilio Anthony Joseph John, 23, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder in connection with the death of 19-year-old Alexander Shaw. John was also convicted of second-degree domestic-violence assault in the non-fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Shaw and his 22-year-old date were parked on a street overlooking the Puget Sound in Steilacoom when they were shot on Nov. 5, 2022, per the News Tribune.
“Officers located multiple expended 9mm and 10mm shell casings, broken glass, and a bullet hole on the driver’s side door of the vehicle,” states a probable cause declaration obtained by PEOPLE. “The trajectory of that bullet hole appeared to show that the bullet came from the passenger side of the vehicle.”
Shaw’s parents found their son before they called 911.
“They said that he had frequented that location in the past, and they tracked his phone to that location after not hearing from him overnight,” states the declaration.
After the shooting, John took his ex-girlfriend to St. Joseph’s Medical Center and ran inside and grabbed a wheelchair before bringing her into the emergency room and then fleeing, the declaration states.
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The woman told police that she initially met Shaw online and they were on a first date “when a man in a mask walked up to the car and shot them,” per the declaration.
She allegedly confirmed John, who is the father of her child, brought her to the hospital, but ”she was not clear on how [John] knew where to find her.”
Detectives checked phone records and discovered that John’s phone was in the area at the time of the shooting, per the declaration.
John was taken into custody at a relative’s home in Silverdale shortly after the shooting.
After serving a search warrant, police found 9mm and 10 mm handguns as well as a pump action shotgun and a .38 revolver inside the home, per the declaration.
“Whatever is wrong with you, however it got here, I don’t know,” Pierce County Superior Court Judge Garold Johnson said at sentencing, according to the News Tribune. “The bottom line is you are a threat to the community. There is no doubt in my mind that you are.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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