The man who fatally struck an Army soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in a vehicle collision on Interstate 5, then carjacked another vehicle to flee, was sentenced Monday to three years, 10 months in prison.
Ryan Edward Grems, 38, pleaded guilty in July to failure to remain at an accident resulting in death and theft of a motor vehicle for the March 30, 2024 hit-and-run that killed 39-year-old Lance Melder.
Grems skipped a sentencing hearing last month, angering Melder’s grieving family members and prompting a bench warrant to be issued for his arrest.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Shelly K. Moss imposed Grems’ punishment Monday morning, giving him a sentence at the low end of the standard sentencing range.
Melder was a tanker from Temple, Texas, who had served in the Army since 2006 and was stationed at JBLM starting in August 2023.
He was stopped on Interstate 5 perpendicular to the roadway near the Tacoma Mall shortly before 2:30 a.m. in a 2012 Ford Focus, according to charging documents, when Grems crashed a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado into his vehicle.
The Washington State Patrol at the time said the driver who hit Melder ditched his Silverado and carjacked a GMC Acadia from a driver who had stopped nearby. Melder was pronounced dead at the scene.
Blood was found inside both the Silverado and the Acadia, which was found abandoned on the exit ramp to 56th Street, according to charging documents. Investigators matched both blood samples to Grems. A witness report and the ownership history of the Silverado also helped identify him.
Grems had one prior felony conviction for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm from 2023, according to court records, and he had 17 prior misdemeanor convictions that date back to 2005.
Melder’s wife, Alyssa, wrote in a victim-impact statement submitted to the court that losing her husband, provider and best friend was the worst thing possible. Melder was a father to four children. His mother-in-law, Hollie Lanning, wrote that her grandchildren were forever changed.
“They cry for him at night,” Lanning wrote. “They look for him in the stands at school events. They draw pictures of him with angel wings, still trying to understand why he’s not coming back. Their laughter is quieter now. The light in their eyes flickers with a sadness no child should ever have to carry.”
Nancy Cross met Melder and his wife when they were stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado in 2012, she said in her victim-impact statement.
Cross said Melder strived to be the type of soldier others looked up to and that the Army lost one of the best soldiers, leaders and peers a unit could hope to have.
