A 29-year-old Othello man who was already sentenced to a little more than seven years in prison on a manslaughter charge in the accidental shooting death of his 4-year-old son in February 2021 will serve that time and more in federal prison on firearms charges.
Felipe Tapia-Perez told U.S. Senior District Court Judge William Fremming Nielsen through an interpreter Wednesday that the shooting "resulted in a great nightmare" and asked for forgiveness. Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Washington indicted Tapia-Perez, who was in the country illegally and had been ordered to stay away from the mother of the child because of domestic violence concerns, in April 2021 on several criminal counts. Those included being an unlawful alien in possession of a firearm.
Tapia-Perez's attorney, Amy Rubin, and Assistant United States Attorney Alison Gregoire told Nielsen that the plea agreement for 148 months in federal custody was due to the totality of the circumstances surrounding the child's death, not just the crimes he was charged with, and that he will have to live with the knowledge of causing his son's death.
"That's something he will have to live with every day," Rubin said.
The Othello Police Department were called to the town's community hospital the night of Feb. 27, 2021, after it was reported the child had a gunshot wound to the head. Tapia-Perez told authorities he'd been arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault a month prior, and that he'd bought a gun in Moses Lake from "an unknown man." That gun turned out to have been stolen in Spokane County.
Tapia-Perez brandished the gun, which was loaded, during an argument with the 4-year-old child's mother in his car. The gun fired, traveling through the passenger's side window and striking the child, who later died.
Gregoire said the woman in the car believed she'd been shot herself when the gun went off. Tapia-Perez, seated in the courtroom in a yellow Spokane County Jail jumpsuit, hung his head as Gregoire told Nielsen about the shooting.
"The defendant is the reason that happened," she said.
The case was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ellis, who handles many of the office's immigration cases. U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref said in an interview the case was the product of a new initiative targeting domestic violence cases involving firearms, called Safe Homes, Safe Communities. Federal prosecutors are working with local law enforcement and state prosecutors to identify cases that could call for federal involvement to deter violent crime, she said.
"We're focusing on the most important, most impactful cases that we can bring," she said.
"What we're doing is opening up the lines of communication," she added, noting that illegal firearm possession cases can begin at the state level, but that federal laws often come with potentially longer prison sentences and more supervision once the person is released.
Tapia-Perez said he knew his conviction would likely mean deportation to Mexico, where he lived until he came to the United States at age 5. He hoped to receive training in mechanic work while imprisoned and work in Mexico, with his family.
Nielsen noted the "unusual plea agreement," which called for a sentence much longer than what was outlined in federal guidelines, but he said Tapia-Perez's actions had tragic consequences.
"It's just hard to contemplate how serious it was," Nielsen said before handing down his sentence. It will run at the same time as his state sentence for manslaughter, meaning he'll serve a total of 14 years after being incarcerated for more than two since the fatal shooting.
Tapia-Perez was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after the hearing, acknowledging some family members who came to support him and wiped away tears during his apology to the court.
