Prosecutors seek 9-month jail sentence for ex-Sonics star Shawn Kemp
Pierce County prosecutors are requesting former Seattle Supersonics star Shawn Kemp to serve nine months in jail.
Kemp pleaded guilty to second-degree assault after shooting at a stolen car last year. He tracked his stolen phone to Tacoma Mall and fired three shots at the suspects in March 2023.
According to police body cam video from that day obtained by KIRO 7, he told officers he fired in self-defense. No one was hurt.
Prosecutors are pushing for the maximum sentence because Kemp tossed the gun into some nearby bushes and didn't tell police he fired until they asked.
They say that's why they're pushing for the maximum sentence. Kemp's defense team can still argue for less — or even no jail time — this week before his sentencing.
Shawn Kemp pleads guilty to assault charges
In 2023, Kemp was accused of shooting at two people in the Tacoma Mall parking lot. He said they broke into his car and stole several items. When police arrived, Kemp told them he fired his weapon in self-defense.
Although both the 4Runner and another nearby vehicle were shot, no people were physically harmed. The two men inside the vehicle, aged 35 and 39, both have extensive criminal records and are currently incarcerated on unrelated charges.
Court documents reveal that Kemp claimed he retreated to his car and fired two shots in response. However, police later reviewed video footage showing that Kemp began shooting immediately after leaving his vehicle.
During the shooting, a bullet struck the car of a JCPenney employee named Cheri Mahoe. She recalled being escorted to the store's third floor with other employees and customers for safety due to the situation outside. The bullet damaged the top layer of her car's roof but did not penetrate inside.
The standard sentencing range for second-degree assault is three to nine months.
He is expected to receive his sentence on Friday after he officially pleaded guilty in May.
Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.
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Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Prosecutors seek 9-month jail sentence for ex-Sonics star Shawn Kemp
This story was originally published on Pierce County prosecutors are requesting former Seattle Supersonics star Shawn Kemp to serve nine months in jail. Kemp pleaded guilty to second-degree assault after shooting at a stolen car last year. He tracked his stolen phone to Tacoma Mall and fired three shots at the suspects in March 2023. According to police body cam video from that day obtained by KIRO 7, he told officers he fired in self-defense. No one was hurt. Prosecutors are pushing for the maximum sentence because Kemp tossed the gun into some nearby bushes and didn't tell police he fired until they asked. They say that's why they're pushing for the maximum sentence. Kemp's defense team can still argue for less — or even no jail time — this week before his sentencing. Shawn Kemp pleads guilty to assault charges In 2023, Kemp was accused of shooting at two people in the Tacoma Mall parking lot. He said they broke into his car and stole several items. When police arrived, Kemp told them he fired his weapon in self-defense. Although both the 4Runner and another nearby vehicle were shot, no people were physically harmed. The two men inside the vehicle, aged 35 and 39, both have extensive criminal records and are currently incarcerated on unrelated charges. Court documents reveal that Kemp claimed he retreated to his car and fired two shots in response. However, police later reviewed video footage showing that Kemp began shooting immediately after leaving his vehicle. During the shooting, a bullet struck the car of a JCPenney employee named Cheri Mahoe. She recalled being escorted to the store's third floor with other employees and customers for safety due to the situation outside. The bullet damaged the top layer of her car's roof but did not penetrate inside. The standard sentencing range for second-degree assault is three to nine months. He is expected to receive his sentence on Friday after he officially pleaded guilty in May. Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Prosecutors seek jail term for ex-NBA star Shawn Kemp in assault case
Pierce County prosecutors on Friday will ask a judge to sentence former Seattle Supersonics star Shawn Kemp to nine months in county jail after he was convicted of shooting at a stolen car occupied by men he suspected had taken his phone. Kemp, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault just before his trial was expected to begin in late May. Kemp and his attorneys struck a deal with prosecutors — who noted multiple factors weighed in favor of resolving the case short of trial — that reduced his charges from first-degree assault and drive-by shooting and removed firearm enhancements that would have added 10 years to his sentence. The plea agreement allows prosecutors to argue for a punishment within the standard sentencing range, which for Kemp, who has no criminal history, is three to nine months in jail. It also lets the defense argue for a sentence below that range. 'The State recommends the Court sentence the Defendant to the high end of his standard range of 9 months in custody of the Pierce County Jail and 12 months of community custody,' deputy prosecuting attorney Sean Plunkett wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed Aug. 14. Kemp has remained out of custody throughout his case. The court commissioner who ordered he could stay out of jail without posting bail after Kemp was charged following the March 8, 2023, shooting noted that Kemp had some speeding tickets, but nothing in his history gave him reason to believe he was a danger to the community. No one was hurt in the shooting. It occurred after Kemp's truck was broken into the previous night at the concert venue Showbox Sodo, where Kemp and a number of his employees were having a celebration. Kemp tracked his stolen iPhone, first to Emerald Queen Casino parking lot and then to the south side of the Tacoma Mall. It's unclear what kind of sentence Kemp's attorneys will ask Superior Court Judge Michael Schwartz to impose. The two lawyers representing him, Tim Leary and Aaron Kiviat, did not respond to a request for comment. When Kemp pleaded guilty, Leary said the plea agreement allowed Kemp to ask for no jail time based on the actions of the men in the vehicle he shot. Prosecutors said the two men who were in possession of Kemp's property had significant histories of crimes of dishonesty. Both are currently incarcerated. Letters filed in court in support of Kemp from his daughter and the executive director of a Seattle senior center have highlighted Kemp's personal growth and his support of local nonprofits. Dian Ferguson, executive director of the Central Area Senior Center, wrote that she met Kemp through his wife, Marvena, and she credits the blossoming of the senior center she has led for 11 years to both of them. 'Elliott, my son, thinks of Shawn as a community asset always willing to help those less fortunate through philanthropic support and his presence at our senior center, basketball camps for children and youth in the summer months and his Holiday giveaways of turkeys and food during Thanksgiving and holiday gifts to those less fortunate during the Christmas Season,' Ferguson wrote. But prosecutors have counted contradictions between the evidence and Kemp's statements to law enforcement among the reasons a high-end sentence is warranted, along with Kemp's apparent attempt to conceal evidence by tossing the 6-shot, .357 magnum he fired into some bushes. Plunkett wrote in the sentencing memorandum that leaving the loaded and cocked revolver created a dangerous situation that could have allowed a child or someone prohibited from possessing a gun to find it. In the defense's trial brief, his attorneys said Kemp didn't want to approach law enforcement while armed, and that he 'immediately' acknowledged firing the gun and that he had placed it in a bush. Plunkett, however, said Kemp only admitted to throwing the revolver into the bushes after law enforcement confronted him with the firearm. The deputy prosecutor also said Kemp didn't tell responding officers or a 911 operator that he had fired at the men in the 4Runner until officers took statements from witnesses and asked Kemp directly if he had fired a gun. Plunkett noted that cell phone video and photos of the 4Runner Kemp shot three times contradicted Kemp's statements to responding police officers and detectives that he only retrieved his firearm after a man in the vehicle shot at him.
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British tourist pleads guilty to killing a man while drunk driving an e-scooter in Australia
An English tourist who hit and killed a man while riding an e-scooter in Australia pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of dangerous driving causing death while under the influence of alcohol. Alicia Kemp, 25, admitted the charge during a hearing at the Western Australia Magistrate's Court, officials told The Associated Press. Kemp was riding an e-scooter with a passenger on board in the city of Perth on May 31 when she hit a 51-year-old man, Australian news outlets reported. Thanh Phan hit his head on the pavement and later died in a hospital. Kemp and the scooter's passenger received minor injuries. Kemp was visiting Western Australia state from Britain on a working holiday visa, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Investigators estimated she was driving at about the maximum speed of a rental e-scooter, 20 to 25 kph (12 to 16 mph), when she crashed into Phan, the court was told at an earlier hearing. A charge of causing harm to the passenger was dropped when Kemp made the appearance via video link from jail on Monday. She was earlier refused bail. Mike Tudori, Kemp's lawyer, told reporters outside the court that his client was 'nervous and worried' as 'a young foreign national girl' in an Australian jail. 'She's obviously done something stupid at the time,' he said, according to Australian Associated Press. 'She obviously wasn't thinking, level-headed and there's consequences, and she just wants to get on with her life.' Phan's family described him as a 'beloved husband, father of two, brother and dear friend,' according to the AAP. Kemp will remain in custody until her next court appearance on Oct. 31, when a sentencing date will be set. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Officials in Perth suspended e-scooter rental in the city after Phan's death, which was the fifth involving e-vehicles in the state in 2025. The state's government also launched an inquiry into the vehicles. Melbourne, in Victoria state, was in 2024 the first Australian city to ban e-scooter hire. The move echoed prohibitions in some other cities worldwide, including Paris, France, where a ban was overwhelmingly approved in April 2023.
